'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
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'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters

A fire that broke out at an oil export facility in southern Iran was brought under control without causing any damage, according to local media.

"A fire has occurred in an open oil channel leading to the export port in the city of Mahshahr," Fars news agency reported after the Sunday incident.

Thick smoke filled the sky over the port, the agency stated.

Mahshahr is located in Khuzestan, an oil-rich province bordering Iraq.

The Tasnim agency described the fire as "minor", adding that there was no "human or financial loss".

A security manager at the port, quoted by the Rokna news website, said the fire was caused by technical failure in a lighting system near the open channel.

Mahshahr Governor Fereydoun Bandari said "firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to oil tanks at the export port", according to Fars.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, he added.

It occurred following weeks of protests in Iran after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, three days after her arrest by vice police.

In a separate incident in the same city, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday its forces had killed an "element hostile to the revolution" after an attack on a military base in Mahshahr.

"The forces fired on two terrorists on motorbikes in order to protect the headquarters, killing one of them while steps were taken to identify and arrest the second person," the IRGC said in a statement.

Iran has the world's second largest gas reserves, after Russia, and the world's fourth largest oil reserves, but is under strict US sanctions which have restricted exports and isolated it from the global financial system.



Trump Says Will Demand Interest Rates Drop 'Immediately'

President Donald Trump smiles as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Donald Trump smiles as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Trump Says Will Demand Interest Rates Drop 'Immediately'

President Donald Trump smiles as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Donald Trump smiles as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would seek to bring interest rates lower by unleashing energy production, and would speak to the Federal Reserve if needed.

"I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately," he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a virtual address. "Likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us all over."

The US Federal Reserve has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to keep inflation and employment in check, primarily by raising and lowering the level of short-term interest rates, according to AFP.

As US president, Trump does not have a say over interest rate decisions, a fact that he has frequently criticized.

Trump told reporters in Washington later on Thursday that he would like to see interest rates come down "a lot," adding that lower oil prices should help them to fall.

"When the oil comes down, it'll bring down prices, he said. "Then you won't have inflation, and then the interest rates will come down."

Asked what he would do if the Fed did not lower interest rates, Trump said he would "put in a strong statement" and expected officials to listen to his views, adding that he would consider talking to Fed chair Jerome Powell if needed.

"I think I know interest rates much better than they do," he said. "And I think I know certainly much better than the one who's primarily in charge of making that decision."

"I'm guided by them very much, " he added. "But if I disagree, I will let it be known."