'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
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'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters

A fire that broke out at an oil export facility in southern Iran was brought under control without causing any damage, according to local media.

"A fire has occurred in an open oil channel leading to the export port in the city of Mahshahr," Fars news agency reported after the Sunday incident.

Thick smoke filled the sky over the port, the agency stated.

Mahshahr is located in Khuzestan, an oil-rich province bordering Iraq.

The Tasnim agency described the fire as "minor", adding that there was no "human or financial loss".

A security manager at the port, quoted by the Rokna news website, said the fire was caused by technical failure in a lighting system near the open channel.

Mahshahr Governor Fereydoun Bandari said "firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to oil tanks at the export port", according to Fars.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, he added.

It occurred following weeks of protests in Iran after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, three days after her arrest by vice police.

In a separate incident in the same city, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday its forces had killed an "element hostile to the revolution" after an attack on a military base in Mahshahr.

"The forces fired on two terrorists on motorbikes in order to protect the headquarters, killing one of them while steps were taken to identify and arrest the second person," the IRGC said in a statement.

Iran has the world's second largest gas reserves, after Russia, and the world's fourth largest oil reserves, but is under strict US sanctions which have restricted exports and isolated it from the global financial system.



Israel Says Houthi Missile Lands in Tel Aviv Area, 16 Lightly Injured

21 December 2024, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli emergency responders inspect the damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv early Saturday. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
21 December 2024, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli emergency responders inspect the damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv early Saturday. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
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Israel Says Houthi Missile Lands in Tel Aviv Area, 16 Lightly Injured

21 December 2024, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli emergency responders inspect the damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv early Saturday. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
21 December 2024, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli emergency responders inspect the damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv early Saturday. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

The Israeli military said it failed to intercept a missile from Yemen early on Saturday that fell in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area, and the ambulance service said 16 people received mild injuries.

A spokesperson for the Iran-backed Houthi militias said they had hit a "military target" in the Jaffa area with a ballistic missile.

Paramedics were treating 16 people with minor shrapnel injuries and some were taken to hospital, the ambulance service said in a statement.

The Israeli police reported receiving reports of a fallen missile in a town in the Tel Aviv area.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

On Thursday, Israel launched strikes against ports and energy infrastructure in Houthi-held parts of Yemen and threatened more attacks against the militias.