Tehran, Iran—Iranian media reported Tuesday that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.
“As part of the ongoing attacks carried out by the Zionist and American enemy, the gas administration building and the gas pressure regulation station on Kaveh Street in Isfahan were targeted,” said the Fars news agency.
The facilities in central Iran were “partially damaged,” added Fars, which was Iran’s only news outlet to report the incident.
It said an attack also targeted the gas pipeline of the Khorramshahr power plant, in the country’s southwest.
“A projectile hit the area outside the Khorramshahr gas pipeline processing station,” Fars reported, quoting the governor of the city bordering Iraq. It did not specify the extent of the damage.
Trump told AFP on Monday that “things are going very well” with Iran, shortly after announcing talks with Tehran and a five-day pause on targeting the Islamic republic’s power plants.
Trump’s abrupt shift on Iran came hours before the expiration of a two-day ultimatum under which he threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media, however, said on Monday there were no negotiations underway toward ending the war.
Iran’s energy minister said he believed the country was less vulnerable than others in the region to any attacks on its energy infrastructure, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Tuesday.
“We produce electricity in a spread out way in several places, unlike the countries of the Persian Gulf or the Zionist regime, where production is centralized and very vulnerable,” Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said, referring to Iran’s Gulf neighbours and Israel.
“We have more than 150 power plants across the country,” he added, as the Middle East war dragged into its fourth week.
His remarks came days after Trump threatened to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane through which a fifth of global crude oil transits.
Trump said the US had engaged in “very good” talks to end the war, though Iran denied any dialogue had taken place.
