That foundation, known as Bonyad Mostazafan, faces American sanctions over it helping the 86-year-old Khamenei “to enrich his office, reward his political allies and persecute the regime’s enemies,” the U.S. Treasury has said. Its top personnel also have direct ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees Tehran’s ballistic missile arsenal and operations abroad targeting the Islamic Republic’s enemies.

Those associations come as authorities still haven’t offered a cause for the blast Saturday at the Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas. The port reportedly took in a chemical component needed for solid fuel for ballistic missiles — something denied by authorities though local reports now increasingly point toward a mysterious, highly explosive cargo being delivered there.

“It’s known that Iran has been doing all kinds of sanctions busting and so on in order to supply their weapons program,” said Andrea Sella, a professor of chemistry at the University College London. “The surprising thing is the fact that this cargo, given that it’s a highly energetic material … was sitting right in the middle of the port warehousing area.”

He added: “That strikes me as nuts.”