Blasts hit natural gas pipeline in Iran; official calls it act of sabotage
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Dubai: In an incident officials suspect to be a sabotage, explosions struck a natural gas pipeline in Iran early Wednesday. Officials termed it a “sabotage and terrorist action” in the country.
The act comes in the backdrop of tension in the Middle East amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and America's repeated pronouncement that Iran was behind the attacks by air, and was building up strikes against Israel.
Only scarce details emerged, although the blasts hit a natural gas pipeline running from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea. The roughly 1,270-kilometer (790-mile) pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran's offshore South Pars gas field.
Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran's gas network control center, told Iranian state television that a “sabotage and terrorist” action caused explosions along several areas of the line.
There are no known insurgent groups operating in that province, home to the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran's Lur ethnic group. Aghli did not name any suspects in the blasts.
In the past, Arab separatists in southwestern Iran have claimed attacks against oil pipelines. However, attacks against such infrastructure are rare elsewhere.
However, tensions have risen in recent years as Iran faces an economy hobbled by international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Israel has carried out attacks in Iran, but have predominantly targeted its nuclear program.
On Tuesday, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog warned that Iran is “not entirely transparent” regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran's program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon “in our hands.”
Tensions over Iran's nuclear program comes as Israel and the US consistently blame Iran for supporting militant groups in the region that target Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine. The groups are Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The Houthis continue to attack commercial shipping in the region, sparking repeated airstrikes from the U.S. and the United Kingdom. (AP)
(Inputs from PTI)