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Girl, 4, dies in Iran explosion a day before Strait of Hormuz naval drill

At least 14 other people were injured in the blast

Jon Gambrell Saturday 31 January 2026 19:05 GMT

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An explosion ripped through an apartment building in Iran’s port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, claiming the life of a four-year-old girl.

Local media footage reportedly showed a member of the security forces being carried out by rescuers in the aftermath of the blast.

The incident occurred just a day before Iran’s planned naval drill in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway to the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

The US military had previously issued warnings to Iran against threatening its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, where Bandar Abbas is situated.

State television cited a local fire official who attributed the explosion to a gas leak.

Reports indicated that at least 14 other people sustained injuries in the blast at the eight-storey building, which shattered windows and left the street below covered in debris.

Damage after an explosion in a building in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran (UGC/AFP via Getty Images)

Local news outlet Sobh-e Sahel broadcast footage featuring one of its correspondents reporting from outside the damaged building.

The sequence included a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being transported on a stretcher.

He was wearing a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, with his left hand obscuring the branch insignia on his uniform.

The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion.

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Another blast, blamed on a gas explosion, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people on Saturday, state media reported.

It comes as Iran remains tense over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations.

Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late on Saturday that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing”.

However, there is no public sign of any talks with the United States, which Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out.