The Iranian Department of Environment says it has identified the source of the foul odor and oil spill in and around the southern city of Bandar Abbas.

The head of the environment department of Hormozgan province, Habib Masihi Taziani, said on Thursday that the bad smell that has been bothering residents in the past few days was emitted from gas condensates that reached the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf.

He said the floodwater overflowing from Kol River at a point about 40 kilometers from Bandar Abbas caused an accident on a feeding pipeline of the Persian Gulf Star Oil Company and made a large amount of oil gasses to spill into the sea.

Taziani added that operations to remove the oil spill is underway and the pipeline will be repaired as soon as the floodwater goes down.

The Persian Gulf Star Oil Company has confirmed the fracture in the pipeline and said the leaked substance can only cause minor complications such as headaches for the residents of the affected areas.

A local medical scientist, said the concentration of these gasses are not high enough to be dangerous, but asked people, particularly pregnant women, children, the elderly and respiratory patients, to stay home and close their windows.

Heavy rain and snow after months of drought have led to floods across Iran in the past week, causing deaths and damage to thousands of properties and roads.