Two Massive Fires In Iran: First A Naval Ship Then Oil Refinery

First, A Naval Ship, Then An Oil Refinery: Two Massive Fires In Iran Within Hours of Each Other

Harbingers Daily

Iran’s largest navy ship the Kharg sank on Wednesday after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, but the crew were safely rescued, Iranian media reported.

No further explanation was given for the latest incident in a region of sensitive waterways, where there have been accusations of attacks on ships owned by arch-enemies Iran and Israel.

State TV said the fire on Iran’s highest-tonnage naval vessel started around 2:25 a.m. on Wednesday (21:55 GMT) near the Iranian port of Jask, where it was on a training mission.

The Gulf of Oman connects to the Strait of Hormuz where about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Rescue operations for the Kharg went on for hours, the statement on state TV said, with all the crew disembarking.

A few hours later, a huge fire broke out at an oil refinery in the southern part of the Iranian capital Tehran, Iranian state media reported, saying there were so far no reports of casualties.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said all operations had been suspended at the facility, known as the Tondguyan refinery, as firefighters tried to contain the blaze.

“A leak at a liquid gas pipeline at the facility sparked the fire,” Mansour Darajati, the head of Tehran’s crisis management organization, told state TV. The cause of fire will be investigated, he added.

Shaker Khafaii, head of the Tehran Oil Refining Co, which runs the refinery, ruled out the possibility of sabotage, Iran’s state TV reported.

Iranian media said ambulances and firefighters had been dispatched to the area, while TV said thick plumes of black smoke over the refinery could be seen from different parts of Tehran. The fire at the refinery happened a few hours after Iran’s largest navy ship the Kharg caught fire and later sank in the Gulf of Oman.