According to state media, a massive fire broke out at an Iranian oil refinery south of Tehran on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for Iran’s emergency department.
As emergency services and firefighters battled to contain the flames, no injuries have been reported.
According to Reuters, “a leak at a liquid gas pipeline at the facility sparked the fire,” according to the head of Tehran’s Provincial Crisis Management Office. According to Reuters, Mansour Darajati added that the cause of the fire would be investigated.
According to Shaker Khafaei, the head of public relations for Tehran Oil Refining Co., which operates the refinery, no casualties have been reported. Khafaei also ruled out the possibility of sabotage.
Thick smoke was seen circulating in the southern areas of the Iranian capital in videos shared on social media on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said all operations at the Tondgooyan refinery had been halted.
According to the state-run Young Journalists Club (YJC) agency, 18 refinery tankers caught fire on Wednesday.
According to Hamed Armanfar, the refinery’s CEO, the fires had subsided significantly by Thursday. “The volume of fires has decreased a lot compared to before, and now only 5% of the initial fires remain,” Armanfar told state news agency IRIN, adding that the fire brigades’ efforts had successfully prevented the blaze from spreading to other tanks.
This occurred just hours after one of the Iranian navy’s largest ships caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday.
According to the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency, the “Khark,” a massive training and logistical ship, caught fire early Wednesday morning. However, the ship sank off the coast of Jask, Iran, after a 20-hour “all-out” rescue effort, according to Fars.
It was also stated that all crew members were evacuated and that there were no casualties.
