Iran says Israel behind gas pipeline blasts

Tehran, Feb 22 (IANS) Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji has said that the blasts that hit the country’s gas transfer pipelines a week ago were an “Israeli conspiracy”.On the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, Owji on Wednesday pointed to the blasts that occurred on February 14 at two points along the national natural gas transfer network in the provinces of Fars, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, according to the Shana News Agency affiliated with the Iranian Oil Ministry.After the blasts, the damaged gas pipelines, which were mostly located in the mountainous and hard-to-reach areas, were soon repaired and were able to resume operations, the Iranian Minister said, adding the blasts failed to disrupt gas supplies to any part of the country, Xinhua news agency reported.Owji said on Saturday the explosions were “acts of terror” that aimed at disrupting gas supplies to major provinces, according to Shana.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions.–IANSint/khz