Four people were killed in a gas explosion on Saturday in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border, while a separate blast in the port city of Bandar Abbas left one person dead and at least 14 others injured, Iranian media reported.
State-run Tehran Times said the Ahvaz explosion was caused by a gas leak, with no further details immediately available. Press TV reported that rescue crews were clearing debris in search of people trapped under the rubble.
Hours earlier, an unrelated explosion ripped through a residential building in Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main container port on the Strait of Hormuz. Local officials said the cause had not yet been identified, while state television quoted a fire official as saying a gas leak was the likely trigger.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency rejected social media claims that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in Bandar Abbas, calling the reports false. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also denied that any of its naval facilities had been hit.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused leaders in the U.S., Israel and Europe of exploiting Iran’s economic pressures, stirring unrest and giving people the means to “tear the nation apart”.
Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was not involved in either explosion.
Bandar Abbas, located on the Strait of Hormuz, hosts Iran’s main container port and suffered a major explosion last April that killed dozens and injured more than 1,000 people.
Investigators later attributed that incident to failures in civil defence and security practices.
Iran continues to face nationwide protests fuelled by economic hardship.
An Iranian official told Reuters that at least 5,000 people have been killed in the unrest, including 500 members of the security forces.
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