Explosions Reported in Iran's Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Multiple explosions were reported Monday in Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas and on nearby Qeshm Island, according to Iran's Mehr News Agency, in a development that drew immediate attention to the strategically vital area surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

Mehr reported that residents in Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island heard several powerful blasts across a wide area on Monday.

The agency said the sounds carried well beyond the city itself, highlighting the scale of the incident in one of the Middle East's most sensitive maritime regions.

Citing local accounts, Mehr said the explosions appeared to originate from waters west of Bandar Abbas.

The agency reported that the sounds were consistent with what it described as possible military activity in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Those assessments had not been independently confirmed, and Iranian authorities had not issued an official explanation for the reported blasts at the time of publication.

The reported explosions came shortly after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a new round of strikes against targets in Iran, saying advanced weaponry had been used to hit multiple locations.

No official link has been established between the CENTCOM announcement and the explosions reported near Bandar Abbas.

Bandar Abbas serves as Iran's principal southern port and lies close to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints. The narrow waterway carries a significant share of global energy shipments, making any security-related developments in the area subject to close international scrutiny because of their potential implications for regional stability and commercial shipping.

Monday's reports also unfolded against the backdrop of heightened diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would no longer consider itself bound by its memorandum of understanding with the United States if Washington failed to fulfill its own commitments.

He said Iran would continue responding proportionately whenever it believed the United States had not honored its obligations.

Read More: Iran Says It Will No Longer Honor U.S. Memorandum if Washington Fails to Meet Commitments

Despite the increasingly strained security environment, Baqaei said indirect contacts aimed at preventing further escalation remain active through mediators from Qatar, Pakistan, and Oman.

Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry accused recent U.S. military strikes of undermining diplomatic efforts undertaken in recent months.

The ministry also criticized what it described as growing insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that U.S. actions had disrupted efforts related to stability and international commercial navigation in the strategic waterway.

Those remarks underscore the broader political backdrop surrounding the latest security developments, although Iranian officials did not connect their diplomatic statements directly to the explosions reported near Bandar Abbas.

As of Monday, the cause of the reported explosions had not been officially confirmed, and no verified information had been released regarding possible damage or casualties.

With tensions between Washington and Tehran remaining elevated even as regional mediation efforts continue, developments around Bandar Abbas and the Strait of Hormuz are likely to remain under close international observation in the coming days.

The report was updated on Monday Jul. 13, 2026, at 01:08pm.