Israel 'sabotage attack' caused explosions at natural gas pipeline: Iran

An Israeli sabotage attack on an Iranian natural gas pipeline has caused multiple explosions that struck it a week ago, Iran's oil minister alleged.

The comments by Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji on Wednesday, come as Israel has been blamed for a series of attacks targeting Tehran's nuclear programme.

The "explosion of the gas pipeline was an Israeli plot," Owji said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. “The enemy intended to disturb gas service in the provinces and put people’s gas distribution at risk.”

He added: "The evil action and plot by the enemy was properly managed." Owji provided no evidence to support his claims.

Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, though it rarely claims its espionage missions abroad. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime foe of Iran, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The blasts on February 14 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-kilometre (790-mile) pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran’s offshore South Pars gas field.

Owji earlier compared the attack to a series of mysterious and unclaimed assaults on gas pipelines in 2011 — including around the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Revolution.

Israel has carried out attacks on Iran, predominantly targeting its nuclear program. Meanwhile, groups that Tehran is arming in the region — Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis — have launched attacks at Israel over the Gaza war.

Also on Wednesday, a suspected Israeli strike hit a neighbourhood in Syria's capital, Damascus, where other likely Israeli strikes have targeted members of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.