A senior Iranian lawmaker has raised the alarm over what he described as an abnormal and dangerous surge in fires and explosions at the country’s oil, gas, and petrochemical facilities, blaming Israel for at least some of the incidents.
“The pattern of fires this year in oil, gas, and petrochemical facilities is abnormal,” Mohammad Bahrami, a member of parliament’s energy committee, told the Iranian news outlet Didban Iran.
“Some of these incidents have occurred repeatedly and within short time intervals at sensitive complexes,” he added.
While Bahrami blamed aging equipment and lack of preventive maintenance as the key causes, he did not rule out possible sabotage operations by Israel.
“Around 50 percent of these incidents are caused by aging equipment, a lack of preventive maintenance, and outdated monitoring systems. About 30 percent stem from human error, insufficient training for operational staff, and failure to follow safety protocols," Bahrami said.
"The remaining 20 percent are a combination of managerial failures, delays in emergency response, weak HSE budgets, inadequate digital warning systems, and recent hostilities with the Zionist regime (of Israel),” he added.
A report by New York Times last month said Iranian officials increasingly suspect a coordinated campaign of sabotage may be behind the recent wave of unexplained fires and explosions across the country.
At least 12 major or mid-scale fires and explosions have occurred in oil and gas infrastructure during the first half of the current Iranian year which began in late March, according to estimates cited by Didban. The number exceeds 20 when minor fires and smoke-causing leaks are included.
Bahrami said the fires had led to deaths in incidents such as those at the Kharg petrochemical facility and Abadan refinery.
“Gas units have been taken offline for days, and both production and exports have been affected. Our international insurance and energy market reputation has suffered,” he said.
Bahrami warned that without structural reform and investments in digital safety infrastructure, Iran’s energy sector could suffer deeper reputational, financial, and operational damage.
