Government speaks of terror
Explosions on Iran’s largest gas pipeline
February 14, 2024, 11:58 a.m
There are explosions on a south-north pipeline in Iran. The government speaks of terrorist sabotage. This wouldn’t be the first case: The Islamic Republic has repeatedly recorded attacks and hacker attacks in the recent past.
According to the government, Iran’s largest gas pipeline network has become the target of terrorist sabotage. There were explosions in two places early on Wednesday morning at one o’clock, Oil Minister Javad Owji told state television. “We anticipated such acts of sabotage around the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and quickly changed the configuration of the transmission network to counteract the enemy’s goal of causing gas outages in large provinces.” According to the oil minister, outages are only occurring in villages near the damaged pipeline and will be resolved later in the day.
Minister Owji referred to the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on February 11, 2011, when a similar act of sabotage took place. At that time, the gas supply temporarily failed in four regions of the country.
Local authorities also suspected sabotage as the reason, and state media reported on the current incident. The explosions occurred in the center of the country on an important south-north line. The provinces of Fars, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari have been put on high alert.
Sabotage in Iran again and again
Several Iranian media outlets reported that as a result of the incidents, gas supplies to companies and administrations would be interrupted in several provinces. The national gas company contradicted this and explained that these interruptions had previously been planned for maintenance work.
In Iran there have been repeated disruptions to gas and oil pipelines in the past. The infrastructure is considered dilapidated and vulnerable, and reparations and renovations are difficult because of the international sanctions against the country. It was only in December that hackers attacked the nationwide payment system at gas stations. Iran’s nuclear program has also been the target of sabotage in the past.
Iran’s nuclear program has also been the target of sabotage in the past. Officials have repeatedly blamed saboteurs for disruptions. This is practically impossible to verify independently. It is also not clear whether there is a connection with Iran’s role in the conflicts in the region or with the parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic planned for March 1st. After the violent death of the Kurdish woman Masha Amini in Tehran in September 2022, there were repeated massive protests in the country, which were suppressed by the security forces.