Explosion occurs at Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas: Iranian media

• Tasnim news agency rejects reports of IRCG official targeting.
• Iranian media says govt investigation cause of explosion.
• Blast comes amid heightened tensions Tehran and Washington.
  

An explosion occurred at Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were “completely false”.

Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.

The port of Bandar Abbas lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.

The reported explosion comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after Iranian the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, and also amid ongoing Western concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The nationwide protests erupted in December over economic hardship and posed one of the toughest challenges to the government.

At least 5,000 people were killed in the protests, including 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian official told Reuters.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said an “armada” was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US, Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran’s economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to “tear the nation apart”.

Despite repeated threats of military action against Iran, Trump predicted that Tehran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action.

“I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programmes, Trump said “yeah, I have,” but refused to say what it was.

“We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading towards Iran right now,” Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran.