TEHRAN -- An Iranian semi-official news agency is reporting that an explosion has injured several people in a port in the south of the country.

The late Saturday report by ILNA did not specify the cause of the blast. It says it also damaged several cars and shattered windows of nearby buildings including a hotel in Imam Khomeini port, some 1,000 kilometres southwest of Tehran.

The port, one of Iran's major import and export terminals, is located in oil-rich Khuzestan province, the scene of occasional protests in recent years by members of Iran's Arabic-speaking minority seeking more rights.

Iran in the past has blamed explosions in the province on saboteurs tied to Arab and Western intelligence agencies.