Iran minister accuses Israel of attack on gas pipelines
Feb 21, 2024
Tel Aviv [Israel], February 21 : An Iran minister has accused Israel of being behind last week's attack on gas pipelines in the country, The Times of Israel, citing the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.
"The enemy intended to disrupt households' gas supplies ... but within two hours our colleagues worked to counter the Israeli plot which only damaged several pipes," Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji said.
According to a February 14 report in Al Jazeera, Minister Owji told state TV about twin explosions on gas pipelines overnight. The daily said that while there are few details about the blasts, one occurred on the mainline gas route running from Iran's central Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province north to major gas fields in the Caspian Sea. The other explosion was reported in the southern province of Fars, it said.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Israel's Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, revealed that recovered documents and other materials revealed that envelopes filled with cash funds were transferred from Iran directly to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
A Microsoft report released earlier this month stated that Iran's online disinformation activities and cyber attacks on Israel have soared since October 7.
International Israeli news agency TPZ cited the report to state that Iran's efforts were to "undermine Israel and its supporters across the internet and social media, causing general confusion and a loss of trust."
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister Amirabdollahian Hossein Amirabdollahian, highlighted the extremely grave conditions on the ground for the Palestinian civilian population and the massive number of Gazans taking refuge in the city of Rafah.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to a statement published on Monday on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website, the Iranian minister said any attack by Israel on Rafah is an example of "genocide against Palestinians" and called for a decisive move by the UN to put an immediate and permanent end to the crimes, stop the forced displacement of the Palestinians, and facilitate their unhindered access to humanitarian aid.
