NYT: Israel was behind attacks on major gas pipelines in Iran

Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, the New York Times reports citing two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The strikes represent a notable shift in the shadow war that Israel and Iran have been waging by air, land, sea and cyberattack for years.

Israel has long targeted military and nuclear sites inside Iran — and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and commanders, both inside and outside of the country. Israel has also waged cyberattacks to disable servers belonging to the oil ministry, causing turmoil at gas stations nationwide.

Israel has long targeted military and nuclear sites inside Iran — and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and commanders, both inside and outside of the country. Israel has also waged cyberattacks to disable servers belonging to the oil ministry, causing turmoil at gas stations nationwide.

But blowing up part of the country’s energy infrastructure, relied on by industries, factories and millions of civilians, marked an escalation in the covert war and appeared to open a new frontier, officials and analysts said.

“The enemy’s plan was to completely disrupt the flow of gas in winter to several main cities and provinces in our country,” Iran’s oil minister, Javad Owji, told Iranian media on Friday.

The Western officials said Israel also caused a separate blast on February 15 inside a chemical factory on the outskirts of Tehran that rattled a neighbourhood and sent plumes of smoke and fire into the air. But local officials said the factory explosion, which took place on February 15, stemmed from an accident in the factory’s fuel tank.

Iran has said that it does not want a direct war with the United States, and it has denied being involved in either the October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel or the various attacks against American and Israeli targets in the region since then.