Sabotage suspected

Explosions at several gas pipelines in Iran

According to the government, Iran's largest gas pipeline network has become the target of terrorist sabotage. There were explosions in two places on Wednesday night. According to Oil Minister Javad Oji, there were only brief outages in villages near the damaged pipeline. 

The configuration of the transmission network was "quickly changed to counter the enemy's aim of causing gas outages in large provinces", Oji continued. He referred to the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on February 11 in 2011, when a similar act of sabotage took place. At that time, the gas supply had temporarily failed in four regions of the country.

The head of the Center for the National Gas Pipeline Network, Said Aghli, described the incidents as a terrorist attack in an interview with state television. The explosions had occurred at around one o'clock in the morning. The oil minister had called an emergency meeting with the security services that very night.

Local authorities also suspected sabotage as the cause. The explosions occurred in the center of the country on an important south-north pipeline. The provinces of Fars, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari have been put on high alert. 

Shutdowns due to maintenance work?
Several Iranian media reported that the gas supply to companies and administrations would be interrupted on Wednesday as a result of the incidents in several provinces. The national gas company refuted this and explained that these interruptions had already been planned for maintenance work.

Repeated attacks on Iran's infrastructure
The Islamic Republic is repeatedly the target of acts of sabotage. As recently as December, hackers attacked the nationwide payment system at petrol stations. Iran's nuclear program has also been the target of sabotage in the past.