Former president warns against 'Trumpian’ deal

A Tehran lawmaker demanded strong action against those responsible for the deadly explosion at Rajaie Port near Bandar Abbas.

“Those responsible for the Bandar Abbas explosion, at any level, must be dealt with in a way that makes them deeply regret their actions,” Tehran hardline MP Amirhossein Sabeti said in parliament on Sunday.

Kayhan newspaper, managed by an appointee of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, also wrote that the incident’s scale at Iran’s largest commercial port required urgent, thorough investigation.

Kayhan called for authorities to determine whether negligence, failure to heed safety warnings, or other causes led to the blast.

The following video shows the ruins of Rajaei Port in Bandar Abbas on Sunday, following the massive explosion on Saturday.

Tehran's morning newspapers on Sunday presented divergent accounts of the explosion at Rajaei port in southern Iran, exposing political fault lines over the incident’s cause.

While conservative outlets attributed the blast to safety failures, one reformist-aligned paper warned of sabotage linked to foreign adversaries.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin offered assistance to Iran after a deadly explosion tore through Rajaie Port, state RIA news agency reported.

Putin conveyed condolences to Iran’s leadership over the casualties and pledged Russian aid to manage the aftermath, according to RIA.

The explosion hit Rajaei Port, a critical hub at Bandar Abbas, where Iranian officials said operations outside the blast zone were continuing despite the scale of destruction.

The following new video shows the moment of the explosion at the port on Saturday.

Only one area of southern Iran’s Rajaei port has been affected by a major fire, Minister of Roads Farzaneh Sadegh said, with operations continuing elsewhere.

"Loading and unloading activities are proceeding normally in other zones of Rajaei port," Sadegh said.

She added that firefighting efforts had made "good progress" and the situation was under control.

Videos published by Iranian media showed Revolutionary Guard planes dumping water on the extensive blaze.

Emergency teams have not yet fully contained the fire, which continues to threaten key parts of the port.

While conservative outlets attributed the blast to safety failures, one reformist-aligned paper warned of sabotage linked to foreign adversaries.

Kayhan, Vatan-e-Emrooz, and Javan, outlets close to Iran’s security establishment, attributed the explosion to negligence in container safety. Javan accused “external enemies of spreading disinformation.”

In contrast, Ham-Mihan, a reformist-leaning daily, suggested the timing of the explosion — coinciding with Iran-US negotiations in Muscat — was unlikely to be accidental.

“It is improbable that the explosion’s concurrence with the start of technical talks between Iran and America is coincidental,” the editorial said.

The paper cited US President Donald Trump’s past comments on Israeli operations, saying Washington might tolerate Israeli non-military acts of sabotage. Ham-Mihan argued the port blast may have been subcontracted to proxies rather than being a direct Israeli operation.

The editorial read, “In a country of 85 million, at least ten thousand individuals have sensitive access; without patriotism, they could deal irreversible blows.”

Kayhan countered that linking the explosion to the Muscat negotiations was based on “unsupported narratives spread by fake news networks,” and urged authorities to clarify whether the explosion resulted from negligence or other factors.

The official cause of the explosion remains under investigation, as calls grow for a transparent and detailed accounting.