War-inflicted communication infrastructure losses hit $386m: ICT chief
Iran’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Sattar Hashemi said on Tuesday that damage to the country’s communication infrastructure during a recent 40-day war with a US-Israeli coalition was estimated at 68 trillion rials ($386 million).
Speaking at his first postwar press conference with reporters, Hashemi outlined damage to the space industry and communications infrastructure following the conflict, which began in late February, according to IRNA.
“During this war, parts of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology’s infrastructure were damaged, with total estimated losses across all sectors announced at around 68 trillion rials,” he said.
He said a significant portion of the damage was related to the space industry, including the Iranian Space Research Center (ISRC) and several ground stations.
“However, the most important point is that, fortunately, there were no casualties in these incidents,” he said.
He added that some equipment that could be moved had been relocated before being damaged, but other systems could not be transferred quickly due to complex dismantling procedures and time-consuming relocation requirements, and were therefore damaged.
During the conflict, 500 communication sites and more than 100 telecommunications centers were hit, he said.