Iran’s Bandar Abbas port is rocked by an explosion that ruins residential buildings.

Iranian media reported an explosion at the southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, but they did not provide an explanation. Social media claims that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was the target of the explosion were deemed “completely false” by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Iranian media reported the bomb was being examined but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.Approximately one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil is handled by the port of Bandar Abbas, which is situated on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman.

The purported explosion coincides with persistent Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and increased tensions between Tehran and Washington following the suppression of the largest rallies to rock Iran in three years. One of the most difficult challenges to the nation’s ecclesiastical rulers was the statewide protests that broke out in December due to economic hardship. According to an Iranian official, the protests claimed the lives of at least 5,000 individuals, including 500 members of the security forces. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump declared that a “armada” was on its way to Iran. Trump was considering alternatives against Iran, including targeted strikes on security forces, according to several sources on Friday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian charged earlier on Saturday that authorities in the United States, Israel, and Europe were taking advantage of Iran’s economic difficulties, stirring up unrest, and giving people the tools to “tear the nation apart.”