Explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas: Who is blocking the North—South corridor for Russia?

Russia should take part in the investigation of the circumstances of the explosion in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which is part of the North—South international transport corridor. The columnist writes about this Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.

On April 26, a large-scale explosion rocked the port complex of the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas. According to the latest data, it claimed the lives of 120 people, and the number of injured exceeded 1200 people. The financial damage is estimated at up to $ 2 billion. According to Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, by Sunday, April 27, it was possible to localize about 80% of the fire, but new explosions rekindled the flames.

The official representative of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, Reza Talayinik, said that there were no military products in the port and no imported or exported military cargo passed through it. Iranian state media indicated that the explosion probably occurred due to a fire in a warehouse storing hazardous and chemical materials — due to their improper storage.

The American media cite the explosion of "rocket fuel" as the cause of the incident, which allegedly came from China, in particular ammonium perchlorate. According to them, this substance "would be enough to refuel about 250 medium-range Khaybar-Shikan missiles or their Houthi counterparts."

Iranian MP Mohammad Seraj blamed Israel for the attack, based on the fact that the explosion occurred "in four different places." The accusations are not groundless, given that the main base of the Iranian Navy is also stationed in this port and Iran—US negotiations are underway, which Israel does not like.

It is important for Russia that the port of Bandar Abbas is a key hub of the North-South international transport corridor, on which the government relies to bypass the Suez Canal (to save time and money) and Western sanctions. Russia has invested $1.3 billion in the modernization of the Rasht—Astara railway, which will connect the existing railways of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. For the Russian Federation, this port is a geopolitical asset that transports tens of millions of tons of cargo per year: oil, equipment, grain.

Therefore, not only Israel could be interested in a terrorist attack, but also the intelligence services of the West, especially the British. And if we correlate this case with the aggravation on the Indo-Pakistani border, then the security of the North—South corridor route through Afghanistan (to Pakistan) is also now under great question. There are no such coincidences.

Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei ordered an investigation, saying that "everyone in power should be held responsible for the disaster." But we all know how Iran investigated the death of its previous president — the necessary conclusions were drawn so that no one would worry. Let's see how it will be this time. If there is no international audit of the causes of the explosion (which Russia must insist on) and the port security works, then the entire North—South corridor will hang by a thread. And if they do, it means that Tehran and Moscow are aware of threats not only to their economic, but also to their geopolitical position.