Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged a wounded survivor of the explosion to remain optimistic during a hospital visit on Sunday, Iranian media reported.
"If I were in your place, I would get up and leave the hospital," Pezeshkian told the patient in a video widely circulated online.
Pezeshkian arrived in Bandar Abbas earlier Sunday to oversee the response to the deadly blast at Rajaei port.
At least 36 people were killed in the Rajaei port explosion, a member of Iran’s parliament said Sunday, citing forensic data.
Mohammad Jamalian, from the parliamentary health committee, told ILNA news agency that 18 victims had been identified, while severe burns made DNA testing necessary for the rest.
Jamalian said 1,241 people were injured, with 994 discharged and 240 still hospitalized, including 37 in intensive care. Five patients suffered severe burns and six were transferred elsewhere. He added that some of the unidentified remains may belong to missing persons.
The figures provided by this member of parliament regarding the number of victims, especially the fatalities, have not yet been announced or confirmed by any other official authority or the Crisis Management Headquarters.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Bandar Abbas on Sunday to oversee the response to the deadly explosion at Rajaei Port, Iranian state media reported.
Offering condolences to the families of the dead and wishing recovery for the injured, Pezeshkian said the government would pursue any issues requiring immediate action.
"We have come to closely examine the situation," he said, according to Tasnim News. Ministers of interior and transportation had arrived earlier to coordinate relief efforts.
Arman Nozarezadeh, a national canoeing champion from Iran’s Hormozgan province, was killed in an explosion at Rajaei port, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
The Ministry of Sports and Youth expressed condolences over his death, calling Nozarezadeh “one of the bright figures of Iranian watersports” in a statement carried by Tasnim.
More than 24 hours after the deadly explosion, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not issued any condolence message. His silence contrasts with his earlier move to declare five days of national mourning instantly following the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran’s government declared Monday a National Day of Mourning following the deadly explosion at Rajaei port, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Sunday.
She said President Masoud Pezeshkian was personally overseeing the investigation into the incident. Hormozgan province, where Rajaei port is located, had earlier declared three days of mourning.
