INTERNACIONAL
Iran port explosion exposes ‘deep vulnerabilities’ in regime’s vital sectors amid unrest concerns
FIRST ON FOX: The massive explosion that rocked Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port in the southern coastal town of Bandar Abbas has exposed the «deep vulnerabilities» of the Islamic Republic’s vital sectors as its concerns over internal unrest mount.
Iranian authorities this week have faced mounting accusations of negligence and an attempt to «cover up» death toll figures and the strong suspicion it was using a civilian port to import explosive materials for the military.
But what remains largely unknown is the extent of the damage, the economic impact and how it will directly affect Iranians already discontent with the Iranian regime.
IRAN ACCUSED OF ‘COVERING UP’ DEATH TOLL IN PORT EXPLOSION AMID CONCERNS OF UPRISING
A charred shoe on scorched ground during an emergency activity at Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 29, 2025. The blast, believed to have originated from hazardous chemicals, killed at least 70 people and injured over 1,200, according to local sources. (Rahim/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
«Rajaee Port is Iran’s primary hub for maritime exports and imports, particularly for oil-based products,» Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior advisor on Iran and an expert on its economy with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
Ghasseminejad explained that the southern port accounted for 52% of Tehran’s oil trade in terms of volume, 77% of its industrial metals and 85% of all container shipments, though he pointed out it is not Iran’s only major port.
A MASSIVE EXPLOSION AT AN IRANIAN PORT LINKED TO MISSILE FUEL SHIPMENT KILLS 5, INJURES OVER 700
«At this stage, there is no credible damage assessment,» Ghasseminejad added, noting all guesses at this point about the extent of the damage were speculation based on images of the damage to the containers and the administrative buildings in the port.
But he noted that «if the damage proves to be extensive and severe, it could place the regime under significant economic and logistical pressure.»
Just two days after the explosion, Tehran claimed port operations had returned to normal. Iran says the explosion killed 70, but some sources estimate the toll could be closer to 250.
Drone footage of the port showed substantial damage, including the destruction of the nearby administrative buildings and a crater left by the explosion.
Smoke fills the sky above a devastated area of Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 28, 2025. (Rahim/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also told Fox News Digital that eyewitnesses have suggested it could take up to 20 days to extinguish ongoing fires, some of which are believed to be in the shipping containers.
«A clearer picture should emerge in the coming weeks,» Ghasseminejad said. «It is unlikely that the port is back to its normal operation and full capacity given the damage to the administrative buildings, the infrastructure, and the fact that hundreds of people working at the port are unfortunately dead, missing or injured.
«The regime has the incentive to lie as it wants to show it has control over the situation, but a lot of sources inside Iran in the business community differ.»
The Iranian regime was accused of «covering up» the death toll this week by the NCRI, which has spoken to eyewitnesses at the port, in a move to counter internal dissidence. It also took steps to limit access to information for not only local residents but media outlets, and it downplayed the severity of the incident.
Emergency workers and citizens gather at a barricade as smoke continues to rise in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 28, 2025. (Rahim/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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«Regardless of the final assessment, the explosion underscores the deep vulnerabilities in Iran’s critical infrastructure and the regime’s incompetence,» Ghasseminejad said, «vulnerabilities that are even more acute in sectors vital to the regime’s survival, such as crude oil export terminals and gas production facilities.
«The regime is now both incompetent and weak, a deadly combination.»
INTERNACIONAL
Trump allegedly thanked police for probing Epstein in 2000s, warned Ghislaine Maxwell is ‘evil’: FBI doc
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President Donald Trump allegedly called the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department in the mid-2000s to thank them for investigating Jeffrey Epstein while simultaneously warning them to stay focused on «evil» Ghislaine Maxwell, according to an FBI document recapping an interview with the local department’s former chief.
«TRUMP called the PBPD (Palm Beach Police Department) to tell him ‘thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this,’» reads an FBI document reviewed by Fox News Digital recounting a 2019 interview with former Palm Beach, Florida, Police Chief Michael Reiter.
When approached for comment, however, an official with the Department of Justice pushed back Tuesday that the office was «not aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.»
Reiter served as the police chief in Palm Beach, Florida, from 2001 to 2009. Reiter’s name was redacted from the FBI document released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), but confirmed to the Miami Herald that he was interviewed by the FBI in 2019 and that Trump called the police department regarding Epstein in July 2006, according to the outlet.
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President Donald Trump reportedly called the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department in 2006 to thank them for investigating Jeffrey Epstein. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Reiter and a security and crisis management firm he operates, called Michael Reiter and Associates, Tuesday morning. Reiter declined to comment on the matter.
The FBI document was among the millions of files, photos and emails released by the DOJ following Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act in late 2025. The DOJ released its latest batch of files on Jan. 30.
The Florida police department began investigating Epstein in 2005 after receiving a call that a 14-year-old girl was allegedly molested by the financier, the Miami Herald reported. The call led to police uncovering other similar sexual abuse allegations and pulled Reiter into the investigation, the outlet wrote Monday.
The FBI document recapping Reiter’s reported interview with federal officials continued that Trump allegedly called Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, «evil» and warned that police should «focus on her.»
«TRUMP told him people in New York knew EPSTEIN was disgusting,» the FBI document continued of the interview with the former police chief. «TRUMP said MAXWELL was EPSTEIN’s operative, ‘she is evil and to focus on her,’ the report continues. «TRUMP told (redacted) that he was around EPSTEIN once when teenagers were present and TRUMP ‘got the hell out of there.’ TRUMP was one of the very first people to call when people found out that they were investigating EPSTEIN.»
Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House on Tuesday morning for comment on the alleged phone call and FBI document.
The Department of Justice released a trove of Epstein documents Dec. 19, 2025, following President Donald Trump’s signature on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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Trump long has maintained that while he did at a time brush elbows with Epstein, he «threw him out» of his Mar-a-Lago resort back in the 2000s as details of his web of sex trafficking and pedophilia circulated.
Reiter’s interview with the FBI also backed up Trump’s longstanding comments that he ended any ties to Epstein in the early 2000s.
«Mar-A-Lago is a mixture of everyone,» the FBI document reads. «DONALD TRUMP told (redacted) that he threw EPSTEIN out of his club.»
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was a well-connected financier with a lengthy Rolodex of billionaires and celebrities who floated in and out of his orbit across the years. (Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)
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Epstein was a well-connected financier with a lengthy Rolodex of billionaires and celebrities who floated in and out of his orbit across the years. He was convicted of sex trafficking minors in 2008 and served just more than one year of incarceration, which also included a controversial work-release arrangement under a plea agreement.
He was arrested again in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell by suicide.
Jeffrey Epstein was seen in a handful of personal images in the second data set released by the DOJ on Dec. 19, 2025, including on boats and near helicopters. (Department of Justice)
Reiter’s interview with the FBI was held just two months after Epstein’s death, according to the Miami Herald.
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Trump signed legislation in November 2025 that required the Justice Department to release files related to the late convicted sex offender, with the DOJ releasing tranches of the documents since December 2025.
donald trump,jeffrey epstein,politics,florida,police and law enforcement
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Fifteen people were arrested in Europe on Tuesday for allegedly spreading Islamic State terrorist group propaganda over TikTok, a report said.
The suspects, whose ages ranged from 16 to 53, were taken into custody in raids across the Netherlands, according to Reuters.
The news agency cited Dutch prosecutors as saying the suspects were detained on suspicion of spreading propaganda from ISIS on TikTok and trying to persuade people to carry out terrorist attacks.
The arrests were sparked by a TikTok account that spread large amounts of ISIS propaganda with Dutch subtitles, the prosecutors reportedly added.
US MILITARY IN SYRIA CARRIES OUT 5 STRIKES AGAINST ‘MULTIPLE ISIS TARGETS’
A masked Islamic State fighter poses holding the ISIS flag in 2015. (Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Thirteen of those arrested were Syrian and four had Dutch nationality, suggesting that some of the suspects were dual nationals, Reuters reported.
TikTok did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The arrests come as the U.S. military remains active in Syria against ISIS.
RISING ISIS THREATS TO US HOMELAND DRIVE AFRICOM AIRSTRIKES AGAINST TERRORISTS IN SOMALIA
The suspects were accused of spreading ISIS propaganda over TikTok. (Fox News)
U.S. Central Command announced last Wednesday that it carried out five strikes against «multiple» Islamic State targets in recent days as part of a joint military effort to «ensure the enduring defeat of the terrorist network.»
CENTCOM said, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, its forces «located and destroyed an ISIS communication site, critical logistics node, and weapons storage facilities with 50 precision munitions delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft.»
«Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,» Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement.
U.S. airmen prepare to load GBU-31 munition systems onto F-15E Strike Eagles within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, on Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Reuters)
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CENTCOM said it launched the Operation Hawkeye Strike mission in response to a Dec. 13, 2025, ISIS «ambush» attack against U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria.
That attack left two U.S. service members and an American interpreter dead.
isis,terrorism,europe,middle east,syria,crime,world
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