TEHRAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Wednesday 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 pointed to the blasts that occurred on Feb. 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.
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. ■
