Tehran, Feb 14 (EFE).- Iran on Wednesday said explosions recorded at dawn in two major gas pipelines in the country were a “terrorist sabotage” attack, state media reported.
Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said that the attack targetting the two transmission pipelines in the country’s southwestern Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province and the southern Fars province at around 1 am on Wednesday caused a massive explosion and a subsequent fire, state-owned Press TV reported.
The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) managed to bring the situation under control, he added.
“Personnel at oil and gas installations had already been put on high alert. We knew that enemies would attempt to create challenges for the [Iranian] nation in the wake of recent regional developments,” the minister said.
Repair work is underway on the affected pipelines, which are xpected to resume operations in 12 to 14 hours, according to Owji.
No casualties have been reported, said Saeed Aqli, the head of dispatching operations at the NIGC.
Following the blasts, industries and companies in the western Lorestan province will remain closed until further notice, state agency IRNA reported.
The Borujen gas pipeline begins in the southern city of Asaluyeh and reaches the Caspian Sea, after traveling 1,250 kilometers (777 miles) while the 750-kilometer long Fars pipeline also starts in Asaluyeh and ends in Isfahan province.
The blasts in the two gas pipelines occur amid escalated tensions in the Middle East due to the war in Gaza.
Tehran leads the so-called Axis of Resistance, an informal alliance formed by militant organizations such as Hezbollah, Houthi rebels, the Islamist movement Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and militias in Iraq, among other groups.
The alliance is directed against the United States and Israel, a country that Iran has accused of carrying out sabotage and assassinations in its territory.
Iran has warned that although it is not seeking war with the US, it will not be intimidated and will respond “with force” to a possible US attack on its territory or against its interests in the region. EFE
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