The blasts hit a 1,270km natural gas pipeline running from Iran’s western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, disrupting supplies in the provinces of North Khorasan in the northeast, Lorestan in the west and Zanjan in the northwest
The alleged blasts blew up natural gas pipelines in Iran. (Credit: Nejc Soklič on Unsplash)
Iranian officials are reportedly accusing Israel of executing operations that blew up a natural gas pipeline last week, which disrupted supplies in several provinces.
During a cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, Oil Minister Javad Owji claimed that the attack was the latest in a series of Israeli efforts to destabilize Iranian infrastructure.
Owji said: “The explosion of the gas pipeline was an Israeli plot. The enemy intended to disturb gas service in the provinces and put people’s gas distribution at risk. The evil action and plot by the enemy were properly managed.”
The blasts on 14 February hit a natural gas pipeline running from Iran’s western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea, with no casualties reported.
According to local media, the blasts disrupted supplies in the provinces of North Khorasan in the northeast, Lorestan in the west and Zanjan in the northwest.
The 1,270km pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, an epicentre for Iran’s offshore South Pars gas field.
The Minister also compared the attack to a series of mysterious and unclaimed assaults on gas pipelines in 2011, including the one around the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In December last year, a hacking group with alleged links to Israel was accused of carrying out a cyberattack which disrupted as much as 70% of Iran’s petrol stations.
According to the Aljazeera report, Iran has blamed Israel for similar acts of sabotage in the past, accusing Israel of carrying out attacks in Iran, primarily targeting its nuclear and military sites.
Last week, the head of the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog warned that Iran is not transparent regarding its atomic programme.
The UN watchdog quoted an Iranian official who once led Tehran’s nuclear program saying, “The Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon in our hands”.
The war on Gaza has worsened relations between the two countries, with Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthis launching attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.