Fire spreads to seven ships at Iranian port, state media reports

A fire has damaged least seven vessels at a shipyard in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr, despite the efforts of firefighters, according to state media.

Posted 6:03 p.m. Jul 15, 2020 — Updated 6:03 p.m. Jul 15, 2020

Ramin Mostaghim

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Kareem Khadder, CNN

CNN — A fire has damaged least seven vessels at a shipyard in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr, despite the efforts of firefighters, according to state media.

The blaze started Wednesday afternoon local time, crisis management official Jahangir Dehghani said. Pictures posted on semi-official media Tasnim showed the ships engulfed in flames, with plumes of thick black smoke rising from debris.

The cause of the fire is still unknown. There were no reports of victims, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA.

The incident is the latest in a string of mysterious explosions and fires at key locations around Iran, including a fire at the Natanz nuclear complex last week and a blast near the Parchin military development facility in June.

Bushehr is situated on the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf, 430 miles south of the capital, Tehran.

Wednesday's fire follows another on Tuesday evening in the city of Lamerd at an aluminum factory. The fire was extinguished and no victims were reported, according to the semi-official Iran Labour News Agency.

Authorities are investigating both fires.

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