Iran accuses Israel of targeting its gas pipelines

Iran today accused Israel of being behind the explosion of domestic gas pipelines last week, describing what happened as a “plot” that was foiled.

Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji said that “explosion of the gas pipeline was an Israeli plot” that was quickly thwarted.

In statements to Iranian news outlets on the sidelines of the government’s weekly meetings, he said: “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 was properly managed.”

He noted that two hours after the explosions, work began to repair the lines and they are currently working, adding that “the explosions caused some damage to several pipes, but the plot was foiled.”

Last Wednesday, Iranian authorities announced that a “sabotage” explosion operation targeted two sites in the public gas transportation network in Iran.

Director of Strategic Centre of the Gas Distribution Network in Iran, Saeed Akli, told Iranian television that two “sabotage” explosions at 1am on Wednesday targeted two high-pressure gas pipelines between the cities of Shahr-e Kord and Borujen in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, southwest of Iran, and the city of Safa Shahr, located in Fars Governorate.

Akli added that the two explosions did not result in any injuries or human losses, noting that the “sabotage” attacks led to problems in transporting gas to a number of villages near the site of the accident, but the public network throughout Iran remained stable.

He pointed out that an urgent meeting of the crisis cell was held within the first hours after the two bombings, in the presence of Oil Minister Javad Owji, his deputies and security officials.

Last December, cyber attacks, the second of their kind, targeted the fuel distribution network throughout Iran, which led to the network being disrupted in some areas and gas stations going out of service in many cities, before the network gradually returned to work.

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