Iran said on Monday "negligence" was to blame for a deadly explosion at the country's biggest commercial port that has killed at least 65 people.
The explosion near Bandar Abbas caused massive fires that were finally declared extinguished late on Monday. It also injured hundreds of people, 120 of whom were still in hospital on Monday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said.
Mr Momeni told Iranian state television the blast was caused by "shortcomings, including non-compliance with safety precautions and negligence". He said "culprits have been identified and summoned", without revealing details of the allegations against them.
The official death toll rose from 40 to 65 on Monday, said Mohammad Ashouri Taziani, the governor of Hormozgan province where the blast took place. More than 1,000 people are said to have been discharged from hospital.
Medical teams were identifying people using DNA and forensic methods, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. It said rescue teams had been working for two days to contain the burning fires.
State media showed images of firefighters still dousing the flames on Monday and said the damage would be assessed when they were fully under control. Heavy black smoke continued to billow over flames at part of the blast site.
Aerial images showed what appeared to be a disintegrated building next to the blast site and two craters measuring about 50 metres across. Other containers nearby were smashed by the explosion and the intense blazes that followed.
Since the blast, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area to close, and have urged residents to avoid going outside "until further notice". Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visited hospitals treating the wounded on Sunday in nearby Bandar Abbas, with three days of mourning declared in the area.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered an investigation into the blast, telling officials to "follow up" on any signs of negligence. The port's customs office said it was likely a fire had broken out at a storage depot for hazardous chemicals.
Tehran denied any military equipment was being stored at the site in the south of the country. The port lies near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil output passes.
The blast came with Iran heading into a fourth round of negotiations with the US over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme. The regime denies it has ambitions of making an atomic weapon.
