Iran-Trump latest: Explosion kills many, regime denies Army chief was targeted

An explosion occurred in a building in Bandar Abbas, Iran, due to a gas leak, Iranian state media reported, citing the head of the local fire department.

An explosion at a southern Iranian port on Saturday killed at least one person and injured 14 others, a local official told Iranian news agencies.

A gas explosion rocked a residential building in Ahvaz, in the west of the country, killing four people, the state-run Tehran Times reported.

The cause of the explosion is currently unclear.

Two Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel was not involved in the explosions in Ahvaz or Bandar Abbas.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that the United States, Israel and European leaders had exploited Iran’s economic problems during recent protests to foment unrest and provide people with the means to “divide the country.”

Pezeshkian said in a live broadcast on state television that foreign leaders were trying to “provoke, create divisions, provide resources and attract some innocent people to join the movement.”

He said Trump, Netanyahu and the Europeans were “using our problems for provocation and were seeking – and are still seeking – to divide society.”

“They brought these people to the streets because, as they said, they wanted to tear the country apart and sow conflict and hatred and division among the people,” Pezeshkian said.

According to Iranian media reports, an explosion occurred in Bandar Abbas Port in southern Iran on Saturday, but the cause of the explosion was not disclosed.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said social media reports that a Revolutionary Guard naval commander was targeted in the bombing were “totally false.”

Iranian media said the explosion was under investigation but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bandar Abbas Port is located in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman that handles about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.

Amid escalating tensions with Iran, the Trump administration yesterday approved the sale of $9 billion worth of Patriot defense missiles to Saudi Arabia and approved the sale of a range of weapons totaling $6.67 billion to Israel.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plans to purchase 730 Patriot missiles from Washington, according to the U.S. State Department.

The U.S. State Department said the sale to Israel includes 30 Apache attack helicopters equipped with rocket launchers and advanced targeting devices.

U.S. allies in the Middle East are reportedly urging Tehran and Washington to exercise restraint as President Donald Trump announces a buildup of naval assets close to Iran.

ABC News quoted an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter as saying that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman and Qatar were all making clear to the United States and Iran that escalation by any party could destabilize the entire region.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman posted on X yesterday that he discussed “efforts to promote regional and global peace and stability.”

Previously, Trump threatened that the United States would take military action against Iran, saying that his “fleet” in the Gulf was “even bigger than our fleet in Venezuela.”

“Hopefully we can make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s great. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens,” the US president said.

The United States has warned Iran that it “will not tolerate unsafe” actions in the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran announced two days of live-fire naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) urged the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to “conduct naval exercises in a safe and professional manner to avoid unnecessary risks to the freedom of international maritime traffic and navigation.”

“Any unsafe and unprofessional conduct near U.S. forces, regional partners, or commercial vessels increases the risk of collision, escalation, and instability,” Central Command said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate unsafe actions by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including overflights of U.S. warships conducting missions, low-altitude or armed overflights of U.S. military assets without clear intentions, high-speed craft approaching collisions with U.S. warships, or the use of weapons trained by the U.S. military,” the statement said.