Casualties Reported In Oil Refinery Explosion In Southern Iran

Iranian state media outlets reported an explosion in a furnace of Aftab oil refinery of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Thursday, killing at least one and leaving several people injured.

According to the IRGC-affiliated Fars news website, two people have been taken to the hospital following the explosion.

The explosion reportedly occurred during a maintenance operation in the refinery.

The cause of the incident is still unclear, but in recent years, similar incidents have occurred at a number of Iranian nuclear, military and energy sites.

On February 15, a huge explosion occurred at a chemical factory in Shahriyar about 30 kilometers west of the capital Tehran. The event came a day after Iran's main gas pipeline network was struck by multiple explosions.

The Iranian Ministry of Petroleum attributed the explosions along gas pipelines in multiple regions of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari and Fars provinces to sabotage operations by “destructive elements and enemy conspiracies” aimed at disrupting gas supply to major provinces.

In December 2023, a cyberattack crippled 60% of Iran’s gas stations. The attack was claimed by the hacking group "Gonjeshk-e-Darande" or Predatory Sparrow, which Iran accuses of being linked to Israel.

The group rose to prominence as a hacktivist two years ago for a similar cyberattack on fuel distribution centers across Iran on the eve of the second anniversary of the bloody suppression of the November 2019 protests. In a separate incident, they claimed responsibility for hacking the state railway company.