Five killed in gas explosions in Iran, officials say

BBCOfficials say a gas leak was the blame for the explosion in Bandar AbbasFive people have been killed in two separate explosions in Iran which local officials and state media say were caused by gas leaks.One person was killed and 14 injured in a blast at a residential building in the southern city of Bandar Abbas on the Gulf coast, a local official told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.Another explosion killed four people in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the state-run Tehran Times reported.It comes as tensions persist in the region after a build-up of US forces in the Gulf and pressure from President Donald Trump that Tehran strike a deal on its nuclear programme.In the port city of Bandar Abbas, state TV said the explosion had ripped though an eight-floor building, "destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops" in the Moallem Boulevard area.The local fire department chief Mohammad Amin Liaqat said a preliminary assessment showed it had been caused by a gas leak and "build-up"."My colleagues will give more details in the next few hours," he said in a video published by Mehr.Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, a regional official, told the news agency that the injured had been taken to hospital.Semi-official news agency Tasnim denied social media reports that a Revolutionary Guards Corps navy commander had been targeted in the blast.Elsewhere, Tehran Times reported a second explosion at a residential building in the Kianshahr neighbourhood of Ahvaz, near the border with Iraq.It reported that emergency officials had rescued a child trapped beneath debris and transferred him for medical treatment.Meanwhile on Saturday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed continuing tensions with the US – saying conflict would not be in the interest of either country nor the broader region."The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought and in no way seeks war," he said during a call with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, news agency AFP reported citing a statement from Iran's presidency.Separately, the head of the country's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani met the Qatari prime minister on Saturday and "reviewed ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region", Qatar's foreign ministry said.Larijani, whom the Kremlin said had also met Russia's President Putin for talks on Friday, wrote on X: "Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing." Iran's foreign minister has said Tehran is open to talks with the US provided they are based on trust and respect but cautioned that its missile defence system would "never" be the subject of negotiation.Trump told Tehran on Wednesday that time was "running out" for it to reach a deal on its nuclear programme – which Iran insists is peaceful – and later said they must also "stop killing protesters" to avoid military action.It came after he had promised to intervene to help those involved in a brutal crackdown on protests in the country earlier this month, although he later said he had heard on good authority that the execution of demonstrators had stopped.The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says it has confirmed the killing of more than 6,300 people since the unrest began in late December, and is investigating another 17,000 reported deaths.Israel eyes regime change in Iran – and is counting on Trump to make it happenMiddle EastIran