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Attacks on Tehran, Alborz fuel depots prompt IRGC strike on Israel’s Haifa refinery
Keramat Veis-Karami, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Co. (NIOPDC), told national TV that the facilities were “the entire fuel supply centers” for the two provinces that were pounded by enemy warplanes on Saturday at 10 pm.
Veis-Karami added that they belonged to the NIOPDC and the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunications Co. (IOPTC), both subsidiaries of the Iranian Oil Ministry.
He said that four fuel tanker drivers were killed and 15 tanker trucks were destroyed in the airstrikes.
In a separate statement, the NIOPDC said that “precautionary measures” had been taken to minimize fuel reserves and that fuel supply to Tehran and Alborz provinces was being maintained from other sources, Shana reported.
The statement said the airstrikes caused fires at the facilities, and firefighters rushed to the scenes to extinguish the flames, with efforts continuing.
Since the US and Israeli aggression on Iran on February 28, gasoline consumption has jumped sharply from an average of 135mn litres per day due to people travelling by road from cities under attack to safer areas.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday that daily petrol consumption had reached a record of 190mn litres, but there had been “no interruption” to fuel supplies.
Reza Navaz, the spokesman for Iran’s Fuel Stations Union, told IRNA on Sunday that the public and private sectors in the supply chain, transport and distribution were working to ensure a “stable fuel supply.”
Navaz noted that there were enough fuel supplies but urged public cooperation to prevent possible shortages.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described attacks on Iranian infrastructure, as a “dangerous move with grave consequences.”
Minutes after the airstrikes on fuel depots, the IRGC announced it had targeted the Haifa refinery in Israel with Kheibar ballistic missiles which have 500kg high-explosive warheads.
Tasnim News Agency published footage purportedly showing smoke rising from part of the Haifa refinery.