In following shipping on undersea cable cutting I came across a story about an Iranian ship carrying rocket fuel from China to Iran weeks ago. It didn't work out well.
There were actually two Iranian ships carrying sodium perchlorate. Reports had the ship's arriving in March. Why the chemical hadn't been moved to a location to turn it into rocket fuel is unknown. It it reminiscent of the ammonium nitrate that exploded in the port at Beruit, Lebanon in 2020 which killed 200 and injured 6,000 others.
This blast killed at least 40 and injured 750.
There was a fire and red smoke before the explosion.
The smoke from the explosion almost looks like a nuclear blast.
Better shot from the side.
People tried to warn others to leave when the fire started, but there wasn't much time before the explosion.
Short video of the explosion.
Iran is not ruling out sabotage. They say it could have been designed to provoke a response.
Private security firm Ambrey says "The fire was reportedly the result of mishandling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian missiles."
Iran needed it to replenish missile stocks used up in attacks on Israel during the Gaza war.
The first comment from the Iranian government denied the presence of the fuel at all. But the ships had earlier been tracked leaving China, the cargo known, and ship tracking showed those ships arriving at the port. Useless to deny the fuel being there.
If it was sabotage, no one has come forward to claim responsibility. In all likelihood the sodium perchlorate mixed with something during the fire to make it explosive. Just by itself it would add to the fire, but not explode. That would require finely powdered metals, alcohols, magnesium, or carbon monoxide, hydrogen, some acids and sulfite compounds.
So, the cause of the fire that led to the explosion is currently unknown, as well as what got mixed into the fire to make the explosion.
Another video view of the explosion.
The Iranians will be asking themselves why the sodium perchlorate hadn't been moved to a missile facility, or where the rocket fuel was designed to be mixed.
It's good news for the Israelis, as it means Iran has fewer rockets to attack, much less to send to Hezbollah, or the Houthis. Hamas has been firing few rockets and far between since the end of the ceasefire in the Gaza war.
It's a tough lesson to be learned about handling hazardous materials.
