Bandar Abbas: citizens report powerful explosions in the early hours of Tuesday

Citizens of Bandar Abbas reported that two waves of powerful explosions shook the city in the early hours of Tuesday, 20 October 2026. According to messages from the public sent to free media outlets, the first explosion occurred at around 4:10 am and the second wave, which citizens said was stronger, at around 4:12 am Tehran time.

Citizens' accounts of the event are not uniform. Some spoke of the sound of an explosion followed by buildings shaking, while others felt only the blast wave without hearing any sound. Several people said the tremor felt more like an earthquake; however, the US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded no earthquake in the Hormozgan region during these hours. One citizen living near a military base said a similar tremor had also occurred a few nights earlier.

Reports of explosion sounds in Konarak

A few hours earlier, citizens in Konarak, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, had also reported hearing two explosions at around 12:30 am on Tuesday. As of publication, neither Islamic Republic officials nor the US military nor any other independent source has announced the cause or exact location of these explosions.

Background: the claim of an attack on the Konarak base

These reports come a day after the Islamic Republic's army navy claimed that America had attacked the Konarak naval base, a claim that a US official called false. Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province, is Iran's most important commercial port and the home of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and army naval commands in the Strait of Hormuz, and it has repeatedly seen explosions during the months of war.

At the same time, US President Donald Trump has said America continues to put heavy economic and military pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Citizens of Bandar Abbas reported two waves of powerful explosions in the early hours of Tuesday; the cause is still unclear.