Iran has been accused of underreporting the severity of the explosion, including the death toll, at the Bandar Abbas port over the weekend in a move to circumvent an internal uprising.

Iran says the fire at a southern port rocked by an explosion finally was extinguished as the death toll in the incident rose to at least 70 people killed.

A massive explosion and fire that rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran, purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, has killed at least 40 people and injured around 1,000 others, officials said.