Blast in Iran port city kills girl, four, ahead of naval drill watched by US

The apartment building in Bandar Abbas, Iran, was severely damaged in the blast (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

An explosion tore through an apartment building in Iran’s port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, killing a four-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers.

The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.