LONDON: Israel staged secret strikes on two major Iranian gas pipelines this week, threatening the supply of energy to millions of people across the country, the New York Times reported.
The attacks simultaneously hit several points along the two pipelines in the Fars and Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari provinces, with the disrupted natural gas flow affecting up to five provinces across the country.
It is unclear whether drones or explosives were used to carry out the strikes, but local collaborators appear to have been involved, experts said, adding that the Israel’s actions represented a major escalation in its strategy against Iran.
Shahin Modarres, a Rome-based security analyst, said: “This shows that the covert networks operating in Iran have expanded their target list and advanced beyond just military and nuclear sites. It’s a major challenge and reputation blow for Iran’s intelligence and security agencies.”
Israel has long waged a covert campaign against Iran based on attacking the country’s nuclear capabilities and oil infrastructure, involving assassinations of scientists and cyberattacks.
But the strikes on natural gas infrastructure were a deliberate plan to “stir domestic discontent,” said Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji.
“The enemy’s plan was to completely disrupt the flow of gas in winter to several main cities and provinces in our country” by using “sabotage and terrorist attacks,” he added, without directly blaming Israel.
Owji said his ministry had sent technical teams to assess and repair the damage, and service had been quickly restored.
One Western official told the New York Times that although the damage was repaired, the escalation served as a “symbolic” warning to Iran of Israel’s capabilities.
Experts believe that the attacks disabled about 15 percent of Iranian daily natural gas production.
The two pipelines — which run for about 1,200 km — carry gas from the south of the country to major urban centers further north, including Tehran, Isfahan and Astara, on the border with Azerbaijan.
Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior energy analyst at Kpler, said: “The level of impact was very high because these are two significant pipelines going south to north. We have never seen anything like this in scale and scope.”
One official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity, said patrols regularly scout the pipelines, taking allocated breaks.
The attackers would have required knowledge of break times to stage the attacks, suggesting the involvement of local collaborators, the official added.
No casualties were reported from the strikes. Social media posts showed locals rushing to the streets after the blasts early in the morning.
It comes amid rising tensions between Iran — and its network of allied militias in the region — and Israel and the US, both of which have carried out strikes on Tehran-backed groups in Syria and Iraq in recent months.
Israel strikes Iranian gas pipelines in covert attack: NYT
https://arab.news/pkcdm
Israel strikes Iranian gas pipelines in covert attack: NYT
- Energy analyst: ‘We have never seen anything like this in scale and scope’
- Security analyst: ‘It’s a major challenge and reputation blow for Iran’s intelligence and security agencies’
Sudan army says retakes central bank after palace recapture
KHARTOUM: Sudan’s military said Saturday it seized several key buildings in central Khartoum, including the central bank, from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, following its recapture of the presidential palace.
“Our forces achieved further success last night, eliminating hundreds of militia members who tried to escape through pockets in central Khartoum,” army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement to AFP, listing the buildings recaptured, including the central bank.
The army and allied armed groups retook the presidential palace on Friday from the RSF, which retaliated with a drone strike that killed three journalists and several army personnel.
Army sources said Friday RSF fighters had fled into buildings in Al-Mogran, an area just west of the palace housing banks and business headquarters.
The paramilitary forces had posted snipers in the district’s high-rises, which overlook both Omdurman across the Nile River and the ministries of central Khartoum.
The battle for Khartoum’s government and financial district could solidify the military’s hold on the capital, providing a significant advantage in the country’s devastating two-year war.
Since April 2023, the military led by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has fought the RSF, headed by Burhan’s former deputy commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 12 million people and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also split the country in two, with the army holding the east and north while the RSF controls nearly all of the western region of Darfur and parts of the south.
Israel warns of severe response to strikes from Lebanon after vowing to intensify operations in Gaza
Israel warns of severe response to strikes from Lebanon after vowing to intensify operations in Gaza
- The Israeli military said three rockets had entered Israeli territory but were intercepted
Jerusalem: Israel said it would respond “severely” to an attack from Lebanon after rockets were fired into northern Israel Saturday morning, a day after it vowed to increase the intensity of its operations in Gaza.
Israel's army said the intercepted rockets were targeting the Israeli town of Metula. This is the second time rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel since December, sparking concern about whether the fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah would hold.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Israel's war on Gaza. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into an all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.
Under the ceasefire reached in November, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January. The deadline was then extended to Feb. 18 by agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
But since then, Israel’s remained in five locations in Lebanon located across from communities in northern Israel and has carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it attacked Hezbollah targets. Lebanon has appealed to the UN to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country.
On Saturday, Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said the country will not allow Lebanon to fire into Israeli communities. “We promised security to the Galilee communities and that is exactly what will happen,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
In a statement, Lebanon's Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south, but said the country did not want to return to war.
The strikes come a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive.
Israel's military said Friday its forces were planning fresh assaults into three neighborhoods west of Gaza City and issued warnings on social media for Palestinians to evacuate the areas.
Also on Friday, Israel blew up the only specialized cancer hospital in the war-torn territory. The Israeli military said it struck the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, accusing Hamas militants of operating on-site. Turkey, which helped build and fund the hospital, said Israeli troops at one point used it as a base.
Around 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel relaunched the war earlier this week. Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians, aiming to pressure Hamas over ceasefire negotiations.
The international community has condemned the resumed attacks. In a statement Friday, the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France and Germany called Israel's strikes in Gaza a dramatic step backward. “We are appalled by the civilian casualties and urgently call for an immediate return to a ceasefire," they said in a joint statement.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Kurds in Iraq and Syria celebrate the Nowruz festival of spring at a time of new political horizons
- Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year,” is an ancient Persian festival that is celebrated in countries including Iraq, Syria, Turkiye and Iran
- or many, Nowruz festivities symbolized not only the arrival of spring but also the spirit and aspirations of the Kurdish people
AKRE. Iraq: Kurds in Iraq and Syria this week marked the Nowruz festival, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal, at a time when many are hoping that a new political beginning is on the horizon.
Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year,” is an ancient Persian festival that is celebrated in countries including Iraq, Syria, Turkiye and Iran. It is characterized by colorful street festivals and torch-bearing processions winding their way into the mountains.
For many, Thursday and Friday’s Nowruz festivities symbolized not only the arrival of spring but also the spirit and aspirations of the Kurdish people, who are now facing a moment of transformation in the region.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which holds sway in much of northeastern Syria, recently signed a landmark deal with the new government in Damascus that includes a ceasefire and eventual merging of the SDF into the Syrian army.
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkiye that has spilled over into conflict in Syria and northern Iraq, recently announced a ceasefire after the group’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called for its members to put down their weapons.
In Iraq, calls for unity
As the sun set behind the mountains of Akre in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq Thursday, more than 1,500 volunteers climbed the steep hills, carrying burning torches as their faces shimmered in the light of the flame.
From a distance, their movements looked like a river of fire flowing up and down the mountain. At the top, small bonfires burned, while the sky was filled with the flashing colors of fireworks.
Women wearing colorful dresses with gold and silver jewelry and men dressed in traditional outfits with wide belts and turbans danced in the streets of the town and in the hills, Kurdish flags waving above the crowds.
The sound of dahol drums and zurna flutes echoed everywhere, mixed with modern Kurdish folk songs played from loudspeakers.
According to Akre’s directorate of tourism, some 88,000 people attended the event, including Kurds who traveled from around the region and the world. The substantial turnout came despite the fact that this year the festival coincides with Ramadan, during which many Kurds — like other Muslims — fast from sunrise to sunset daily.
Among those dancing on the hill was Hozan Jalil, who traveled from Batman city in Turkiye. Jalil said he is happy about the peace process and hopeful that it will bear results, although he was also somewhat circumspect. “I hope it won’t finish with regrets and our Kurdish people will not be deceived or cheated,” he said.
Jalil said Nowruz to him represents unity between Kurdish people across national boundaries. “This year, Nowruz to me symbolizes the point of achieving freedom for all Kurdish people,” he said.
For the people of Akre, Nowruz has become a tradition that connects them to Kurds and others everywhere. A local from Akre, described her pride in hosting such a celebration in her town.
“It’s a great feeling that everyone from all over the world comes to Akre for this celebration because it makes Akre the capital of Nowruz for the whole world,” said Guevara Fawaz. She was walking through the town’s main square with her family dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes.
Like Jalil, she voiced hopes that the PKK-Turkiye talks would progress and “achieve peace in all four parts of Kurdistan.”
A changing reality in Syria
Across the border in Syria, where former President Bashar Assad was unseated in a lightning rebel offensive in December, Nowruz celebrations took place openly in the streets of the capital for the first time in more than a decade since anti-government protests spiraled into a civil war in 2011.
Hundreds of Kurds packed into Shamdeen Square in the Roken Al-Din neighborhood, the main Kurdish area in the Syrian capital, to light the Nowruz fire, waving Kurdish flags alongside the new, three-starred Syrian flag.
In the village of Hemo, just outside the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish flag, along with flags of Abdullah Ocalan and the SDF, waved high above the crowds as people danced in the streets.
The new rulers in Damascus, Islamist former insurgents, have promised to respect minorities. A temporary constitution announced earlier this month states that “citizens are equal before the law ... without discrimination based on race, religion, gender or lineage.”
But many Kurds were unhappy that the text does not explicitly recognize Kurdish rights.
Mizgeen Tahir, a well-known Kurdish singer who attended the festivities in Hemo, said, “This year, Nowruz is different because it’s the first Nowruz since the fall of the Baath regime and authority,” referring to the now-disbanded Baath party of the Assad dynasty.
But Syria’s Kurdish region “is at a turning point now,” he said.
“This Nowruz, we’re unsure about our situation. How will our rights be constitutionally recognized?” Media Ghanim, from Qamishli, who also joined the celebrations, said she is hopeful that after Assad’s fall, “we will keep moving forward toward freedom and have our rights guaranteed in the Syrian constitution.”
“We hope these negotiations will end with success, because we want our rights as Kurds,” she said.
Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, one day after shooting down two projectiles launched by Houthi militants.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement in the early hours of Saturday.
Saree said the attack against Israel was the group’s third in 48 hours.
He issued a warning to airlines that the Israeli airport was “no longer safe for air travel and would continue to be so until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
However, the airport’s website seemed to be operating normally and showed a list of scheduled flights.
The group’s military spokesman has also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
The group recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to US strikes
earlier this month, which amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
The Houthis’ fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.
Turkiye condemns ‘deliberate Israeli strike’ on Gaza hospital; Israel army insists it ‘struck terrorists’
- Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel on Tuesday shattered the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January
ISTANBUL/JERUSALEM: Ankara on Friday condemned what it said was a “deliberate” attack by Israel on a Turkish-built hospital in the Gaza Strip.
“We strongly condemn the destruction by Israel of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital,” said a foreign ministry statement.
Israel’s military acknowledged the attack, but insisted it “struck terrorists” in what it described as an inactive Gaza hospital used by Hamas militants.
“Earlier today (Friday), the IDF (military) struck terrorists in a Hamas terrorist infrastructure site that previously had served as a hospital in the central Gaza Strip,” a military spokesman told AFP in response to a question about the Turkish accusations.
Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel on Tuesday shattered the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January.
Israeli ground forces on Friday advanced deeper into Gaza and vowed to hold more land until Hamas releases its remaining hostages.
In the southern city of Rafah, officials said Israeli bombardments had forced residents into the open, deepening their suffering. Officials said they halted the building of shelter camps to protect employees.
Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians. It says military operations will escalate until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory.
Israel had ignored international condemnation of its indescriminate strikes, with Defense Minister Israel Katz warning that Israel would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity until the hostages are released by Hamas.”
