dpa/rtr | Amid growing war concerns, several explosions have occurred in Iran. One was reported by Iranian media in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. A residential building in the southern city of Bandar Abbas was affected, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, citing the Hormuzgan province disaster control agency.
Eyewitnesses also reported at least one explosion near the Iranian capital Tehran. The Iranian online portal Nur News also reported, citing the fire chief of the city of Ahwas in the southwest of the country, that a gas explosion had occurred there. According to the information, there were four dead.
The Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), denied rumors that the explosion in Bandar Abbas was an attempt to assassinate IRGC navy commander Aliresa Tangsiri.
The state news agency Irna published a photo of a partially destroyed front of a multi-story residential building. The reason for the explosion is still unclear, it said.
A three-day naval exercise by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards will soon begin in the Persian Gulf, in which China and Russia are also expected to take part. The background is military tensions. US President Donald Trump had moved a fleet including aircraft carriers to the region. He had repeatedly threatened the leadership in Tehran to intervene in the country after the security apparatus brutally cracked down on protests.
Trump sends warships to Iran
Trump recently increased the pressure on Iran with new threats. More warships are currently heading towards the country – “and hopefully we will make a deal,” said Trump during an appearance at the White House. “If there is no deal – let’s see what happens then,” he added.
Trump once again claimed that his threat of violence against the Iranian government prevented the planned execution of 837 people. He warned those in power in Tehran that they would then “pay a price for this that no one has ever paid before,” he said. The US President did not want to comment on whether he had set deadlines for Iran, but said: “They definitely know.” He reiterated that Iran wanted to make a deal.
Trump had told the government in Tehran in connection with the violent suppression of the recent protests threatened with military attacks. After the executions he had planned were canceled, this did not happen. Trump emphasizes that he will not tolerate Iran’s nuclear weapons program. In June 2025, the US military joined Israel’s war against Iran and bombed central nuclear facilities there. The background to the nuclear dispute is the fears of Western states that the leadership of the Islamic Republic could strive for nuclear weapons. Tehran denies this.
Iran’s President Peseschkian blames the West
The Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian accuses the USA, Israel and European countries of fomenting the recent unrest in the country. In a speech broadcast live on state television on Saturday, Peseschkian said these countries had taken advantage of Iran’s economic problems to divide society. They tried to “tear this country apart.”
US President Donald TrumpIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Europeans exploited the discontent for their own purposes. It is obvious that these were not just social protests, Peseschkian added.