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Flames erupt from a gas leak: Iran blames Israel
Photo:
Reza Kamali Dehkordi / AP
On Wednesday morning last week, explosions destroyed gas pipelines in Iran. The country's government has now blamed Israel for the damage to important pipelines. Oil Minister Javad Oji said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting that the damage had now been repaired. "It was an Israeli conspiracy that was not successful," the minister told journalists.
A week ago there were explosions on several gas pipelines in the interior and south of Iran. The incidents occurred in the interior and south of the country, state media reported. The Iranian head of the Center for the National Gas Network, Said Aghli, described the incidents on state television as a terrorist attack.
On Friday, the New York Times reported, citing two Western government officials and a military strategist, that Israel was responsible for the explosions. As is usual in these cases, Israel has not yet commented.
According to the New York Times' sources, the attacks required extensive knowledge of Iran's infrastructure. According to one of the government officials quoted, it was a "symbolic attack" that caused relatively little damage to the civilian population - but could be understood as a clear warning from Israel given the tense situation in the region.
The USA and Israel in particular accuse Iran of having supported the Islamist Hamas for years and of being at least indirectly responsible for the terrorist attack on October 7th, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered in Israel. Since the beginning of the Gaza War, Israel has also attacked a number of targets of pro-Iranian groups in Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to push back Iranian influence in the region.
sol/dpa