Bandar-e Shahpour ( fa, بندر شاهپور) is a city and capital of Bandar-e Shahpour District of Mahshahr County, Khuzestan Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. As of the 2006 census, its population was 67,078, in 14,681 families. Bandar Shahpour is a port city on the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

Khūzestān Province Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

. Between 1979-1401, the dark years, it was known as Bandar Imam. It is named after Khomeini. The city is home to Petrochimi Bandar Shahpourbasketball club, which plays in the Iranian Super League.

Port history

Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex

The port is located at the terminus of the Trans-Iranian Railway linking the

with

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and on to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...

. It is part of same nautical complex as the port of the adjacent city of

Bandar-e Mahshahr Bandar-e Mahshahr ( fa, بندرماهشهر) is a city and capital of Mahshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Mahshahr has two universities. Islamic Azad University of Mahshahr and Amirkabir University of Technology, Mahshahr campus. Both u ...

. Both ports are accessible through the same channel. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it consisted only of a jetty, two shipping berths, a railhead and warehouses and a civilian settlement some miles distant. The port was initially in German and Italian hands, but was stormed on August 25, 1941, by a combined British and

Indian force The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

supported by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. A flotilla led by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Kanimbla sailed up the waterways and in the raid captured eight Axis vessels, two gunboats and the floating dock. It was at time that, among others, the German ship ''Hohenfels'' fell into British hands and became '' Empire Kamal''. Thereafter it was administered by the US Army 482nd Port Battalion and served as a critical supply point for Allied military aid for Soviet Russia. The port facilities were also used for merchant and military vessel layup and repair. Three additional berths were built during the war.

Port operations

The port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni is an Iranian national port operating under the authority of the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organisation. it is the northernmost Iranian port on the

. The Bandar Imam port is a transshipment point for

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The ter ...

bulk Bulk can refer to: Industry * Bulk cargo * Bulk liquids * Bulk mail * Bulk material handling * Bulk pack, packaged bulk materials/products * Bulk purchasing * Baking * Bulk fermentation, the period after mixing when dough is left alone to fer ...

and general cargo, with exclusive access to the facilities held by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group). In 2005, the Iranian government proposed direct container shipments between the port and western Europe, but negotiations with shipping lines for dedicated port facilities and access have not concluded. A dozen kilometres east of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni port is the port of

which specialises in exporting oil and petrochemical products of the national companies

NIOC The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; fa, شرکت ملّی نفت ایران, Sherkat-e Melli-ye Naft-e Īrān) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of ...

and NPC. Both ports are accessible through the same 'Khor Musa' channel, which is 42 miles long and about 20 meters deep. Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni port is connected by rail and road, to the west with Abadan and

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also romanized as ''Khurramshahr'', ar, المحمرة, romanized as ''Al-Muhammerah'') is a city and capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 170,976, ...

and their joint

Arvand Free Zone The Arvand Free Zone with an area of 37,400 hectares is at the confluence of the Karun and Arvand (Shatt al-Arab) rivers. The Zone is located at a height of three meters above sea level and in proximity to Iraq and in the north west of Persian ...

, along the Iran - Iraq border, and to the morth to Ahvaz, Teheran and the

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

countries. The port has seven terminals with 40 berths of about 6,500 metres frontage. The terminals have warehouses with a capacity of 171,000 m² and open storage areas covering 10.9 km².

Transportation

Roads

* *

References

External links