Israel was behind attacks on major gas pipelines in Iran: New York Times

Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, according to a report by The New York Times.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Wednesday that a "terrorist sabotage" attack had targeted two main gas transmission pipelines in the country’s southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari as well as the southern province of Fars, causing a massive explosion and a subsequent fire.

The attacks disrupted the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people.

The New York Times citing two Western officials and a military strategist reported on Friday that the attacks had been carried out by Israel.

“The enemy’s plan was to completely disrupt the flow of gas in winter to several main cities and provinces in our country,” Iran’s oil minister told Iranian media on Friday.

Owji said that the goal of the attack was to damage Iran’s energy infrastructure and stir domestic discontent.

Saeed Aqli, head of dispatching operations at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), also said that the act of terror struck the transmission lines in Borujen County in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province.

He added that a crisis management session had been convened shortly afterwards, with the Iranian oil minister, deputy oil ministers as well as senior security officials in attendance.

Aqli further noted that firefighting brigades could extinguish the blaze within hours and the work on repairing the transmission lines was underway.

The terrorist attack on Iran’s major gas transmission lines came as anti-Iran media outlets had been suggesting assaults on the Iranian energy sector over the past few months, and some US senators had even called for the bombing of Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Last year, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham suggested the US should threaten Iranian oil infrastructure if the conflict between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas continued to escalate.

“If there is an escalation in this conflict, if hostages start getting killed, if Hezbollah in the north attacks Israel in strength, we should tell Iran we will destroy your oil refineries and your oil infrastructure,” Graham said.

“We will put you out of business. Without money coming from Iran and weapons coming from the Iranians, Hamas will be nothing. Hezbollah will be nothing,” Graham asserted.

Iran has asserted, on numerous occasions, that the regional resistance groups act independently and do not take orders or receive finances from the Islamic Republic.

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