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The ongoing conflict in West Asia further intensified on Monday as the Israeli Air Force targeted Iran's largest petrochemical facility in Asaluyeh in the Bushehr Province, damaging part of the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, with Iranian authorities confirming damage to the Jam and Damavand complexes.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) strike hit "the largest petrochemical facility in Iran, located in Asaluyeh, a central target responsible for about 50 per cent of the country's petrochemical production, following last week's strike on the second main facility," the Times of Israel reported. In a statement, Katz added that the two facilities, "which together are responsible for about 85 per cent of Iran's petrochemical exports, have been taken out of use and are not functioning," calling the attack "a severe economic blow amounting to tens of billions of dollars to the Iranian regime." As per Times of Israel, Katz highlighted the strategic role of the sector, saying it is "a central engine in financing the activities" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran's military build-up and also stated that the IDF has been instructed to "continue striking with full force the national infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime". The attack on these facilities was later confirmed by Iranian authorities, who described the strikes as "criminal attacks" by the "American-Zionist enemy". According to Iranian state media, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), citing a statement issued by the Islamic Republic's National Petrochemical Industries Company, emergency teams were deployed immediately after the strikes, and the situation is "under control". No casualties were reported, with officials currently assessing the technical impact and extent of the damage. Head of Iran's Strategic Energy Management Organization, Saqab Esfahani, described the attacks as "reverse psychological operations against the enemy," noting that "the construction of the South Pars refinery and phases is the result of decades of financial and production efforts," adding that "some infrastructure has been damaged and production capacity has been slightly reduced," as reported by IRIB. He further emphasised, "Every fuel saved is fuel for our armed forces in the field." The strikes mark a significant escalation in hostilities between Israel and Iran amid the border conflict in the region involving the US, highlighting the importance of the energy facilities in the region as strategic targets amid the conflict. (ANI)
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