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| 'Blast' at new Iran oil refinery as Ahmadinejad visits | 'Blast' at new Iran oil refinery as Ahmadinejad visits |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| One person has been killed and at least 20 hurt in an explosion at a refinery in Iran during a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian media say. | |
| He was not hurt in the blast and went on to make a televised speech to mark the opening of the oil refinery, in the south-western city of Abadan. | |
| A technical problem caused the blast and then a fire, Fars news agency said. | A technical problem caused the blast and then a fire, Fars news agency said. |
| Thick smoke was seen rising from the refinery but the fire was under control, the semi-official agency said. | Thick smoke was seen rising from the refinery but the fire was under control, the semi-official agency said. |
| Another news agency, Mehr, said the explosion was caused by a gas leak. | |
| The refinery is being launched in two phases and ultimately will produce more than 6m litres (1.3m UK gallons) of petrol a day, mostly for domestic consumption. | |
| Correspondents say Mr Ahmadinejad's presence shows the importance Iran, a major oil producer, places on increasing its refining capacity as sanctions hit its ability to import petrol. | |
| The port of Abadan has a special significance in Iranian history after post-war Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq nationalised the Iranian assets of the Anglo-Iranian oil company, an action which led eventually to a CIA-backed coup which overthrew him and led to decades of Iranian animosity towards the West. |