According to state TV, at least 516 people have been injured and hundreds have been taken to hospital. The number has increased rapidly in a short time.
Saturday's explosion is believed to have occurred in the container port, which is located at the Hormuz Strait in the Persian Gulf. The rescue service is struggling to extinguish fires and evacuate people from there.
No official explanation for the explosion has been given, but the port's customs office says on state TV that it likely resulted from a fire that broke out in a storage depot for chemical and hazardous materials.
No one directly suggests that the explosion is the result of an attack, but Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi – who on Wednesday leads nuclear energy talks with the US in Oman – says that "our security services have high alertness in mind due to previous cases of sabotage attempts and murder operations designed to provoke a legitimate response."
Chinese rocket fuel
The port is said to have received rocket fuel from China in March, according to the private security company Ambrey.
"The fire was reportedly the result of incorrect handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles," Ambrey writes in a statement.
Iran has not confirmed that the country received the delivery.
Clips on social media show a large black cloud of smoke over the port. State TV also reports that a building has collapsed in the explosion.
The explosion is said to have been so powerful that it could be felt and heard five miles away, according to the Fars news agency, which is controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Minister to the port
According to local authorities, air ambulances from nearby provinces have been put on high alert and rescue helicopters have been called in.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian expresses sympathy for the victims and announces that he has issued an order to investigate the causes of the fire. Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is being sent to the area.
The state-owned Iranian oil company Nioc says that the explosion has no connection to refineries, fuel tanks, or oil pipelines and adds that "the oil facilities in Bandar Abbas are currently operating without interruption."
