Explosion Occurs at Iran's Southern Port of Bandar Abbas

An explosion occurred at Iran's southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were "completely false."

Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Israel is not involved in a series of blasts that occurred in Iran on Saturday, two Israeli officials told Reuters.

The port of Bandar Abbas lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil.

The reported explosion comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after Iranian authorities quelled the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, and also amid ongoing Western concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Also, four were killed after a gas explosion at a residential building in Iran's Ahvaz, the state-run Tehran Times reported citing the head of the city's fire department.

The nationwide protests erupted in December over economic hardship and posed one of the toughest challenges to the country's clerical rulers.

At least 5,000 people were killed in the protests, including 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian official told Reuters.

President Donald Trump said Thursday an "armada" was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused U.S., Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran's economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to "tear the nation apart."