The New York Times: Israel launched attacks on two major gas pipelines in Iran this week
Western officials revealed on Friday that Israel launched secret attacks on two major gas pipelines in Iran this week, disrupting the supply of households use gas to several Iranian provinces.
The New York Times quoted officials and a military strategist affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, saying that Israel carried out secret attacks on two major gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of households use gas to provinces inhabited by millions of people.
They added, “The attacks launched by Israel on the two pipelines require deep knowledge of the Iranian infrastructure and careful coordination, especially since the two pipelines were hit in multiple locations at the same time”.
Also, Israel was behind an explosion on Thursday inside a chemical factory on the outskirts of the capital, Tehran, which led to columns of smoke and fire rising into the air.
One of the officials described the attacks as very symbolic attacks and it was easy for Iran to repair the damage caused by them, and they caused only relatively minor harm to civilians,” according to the New York Times.
The official pointed out that the attack sent a strong warning of the extent of the damage that Israel could inflict if the conflict expands to include all parts of the Middle East, as well as escalating tensions between Iran and its opponents, especially Israel and the United States.
Last Wednesday, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji announced that an act of sabotage had occurred targeting the gas pipelines supplying the cities of Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari province, pointing out that gas supplies to the province wouldn’t be cut off.
The Iranian minister said, in televised statements, “Around 2:00 to 3:00 AM, a terrorist act of sabotage led to an explosion at three points of the gas lines supplying the cities of Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari provinces…and today all gas lines will be repaired”.
He added, “We were prepared to confront incidents like this, and firefighters and officials were present at the scene from the first minutes”.
The Iranian minister stressed that “the enemies’ goal of cutting off gas from a large governorate like Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari won’t be achieved… We’re rehabilitating the lines to return gas pumping to the cities of the governorate as quickly as possible”.
Last December, the Iranian Oil Minister announced that a technical malfunction had struck gas stations throughout the country, as a result of a cyber-attack.
He said, in statements to Iranian state television at the time, “Gas stations reported that some stations were subjected to a cyber-attack, and the process of refueling cars was stopped”.
The Iranian oil minister added that there are 1,650 gas stations operating throughout the country and they are supplied with fuel manually without using a subsidized fuel card.
On the other hand, “The Times of Israel” newspaper said, “A hacking group that was previously linked to Israel announced that it disrupted gas stations throughout Iran as a result of a cyber-attack,” noting that the group calls itself the predatory bird.
The Times of Israel quoted a statement issued by the hacking group, saying that the cyber-attack comes in response to the aggression of Iran and its agents in the region.
The group added, “A month ago, we warned you that we were back, and that we would impose a cost for your provocations… This is just a glimpse of what we have in store”.
In late 2021, a major cyber-attack disrupted the sale of subsidized gasoline in Iran, and citizens subsequently piled up in long lines in front of stations across the country.
