Ghasseminejad remarked that currently, there’s no reliable evaluation of the damage. He pointed out that any estimates regarding the extent of the damage are purely speculative, relying on images of the affected containers and port office buildings.
But he noted that “if the damage proves to be extensive and severe, it could place the regime under significant economic and logistical pressure.”
Merely two days following the explosion, Tehran announced that port activities had resumed their usual pace. While Iran reported 70 fatalities from the explosion, other sources suggest the death toll might be nearer to 250.
Drone imagery captured extensive destruction at the port, highlighting devastation to the surrounding administrative structures and a large crater caused by the blast.
Smoke fills the sky above a devastated area of Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 28, 2025. (Rahim/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also told Fox News Digital that eyewitnesses have suggested it could take up to 20 days to extinguish ongoing fires, some of which are believed to be in the shipping containers.
“A clearer picture should emerge in the coming weeks,” Ghasseminejad said. “It is unlikely that the port is back to its normal operation and full capacity given the damage to the administrative buildings, the infrastructure, and the fact that hundreds of people working at the port are unfortunately dead, missing or injured.
“The regime has the incentive to lie as it wants to show it has control over the situation, but a lot of sources inside Iran in the business community differ.”
The Iranian regime was accused of “covering up” the death toll this week by the NCRI, which has spoken to eyewitnesses at the port, in a move to counter internal dissidence. It also took steps to limit access to information for not only local residents but media outlets, and it downplayed the severity of the incident.
Emergency workers and citizens gather at a barricade as smoke continues to rise in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 28, 2025. (Rahim/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“Regardless of the final assessment, the explosion underscores the deep vulnerabilities in Iran’s critical infrastructure and the regime’s incompetence,” Ghasseminejad said, “vulnerabilities that are even more acute in sectors vital to the regime’s survival, such as crude oil export terminals and gas production facilities.
“The regime is now both incompetent and weak, a deadly combination.”
