Iran's Main Gas Pipeline Hit by Sabotage

Footage broadcast on Iranian state television of a gas pipeline explosion in Borogen
Footage broadcast on Iranian state television of a gas pipeline explosion in Borogen
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Iran's Main Gas Pipeline Hit by Sabotage

Footage broadcast on Iranian state television of a gas pipeline explosion in Borogen
Footage broadcast on Iranian state television of a gas pipeline explosion in Borogen

Iran announced that two explosions along its leading south-north gas pipeline network on Wednesday were caused by sabotage the Iranian oil minister Javad Owji revealed.

Owji told reporters that the "terrorist act of sabotage occurred at 1 a.m. on Wednesday in the network of national gas transmission pipelines in two regions of the country."

"We anticipated such acts of sabotage around the anniversary of the Iranian revolution (February 11) and quickly changed the configuration of the transmission network to counter the enemy's objective to cause gas outages in major provinces," he added.

Video clips circulated on social media showing the extent of the bombings in the Fars provinces in the south of the country.

Local media said that one of the bombings occurred in Boroujen, Charmahal, and Bakhtiari in the center of the country.

The city's fire chief said that there were no casualties.

Official media reported that the accident caused gas outages to industrial and administrative facilities and dozens of villages in at least four governorates, but officials denied the reports.

Later, reports stated that the authorities issued orders to reduce gas supplies to government departments in several provinces and factories in Isfahan and Zanjan.

Reuters cited state media saying temporary restrictions had been planned for maintenance.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks. The country is witnessing low temperatures, with snow and rain falling in most of the 31 Iranian provinces.

In December, Iran executed five people it accused of having links to the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) in a decades-long hidden war that saw Tehran accuse Israel of launching attacks on its nuclear and missile programs.

Lawmaker Ruhollah Izadkhah told the government ISNA agency that enemies cannot harm the country with "firecrackers."

The MP asserted that the country's economic infrastructure is robust, and the explosions will not affect the country.

Izadkhah described the gas pipeline explosion in Fars Province as "the revenge of the US and the Zionist entity" against the sizeable popular participation in the revolution anniversary march.

A day before the attack, a hacking group affiliated with the Iranian opposition Mojehadin-e-Khlaq Organization (MKO) seized documents and data from the Iranian parliament after hacking the servers of the official website.

Khane Mellat (ICANA.ir) news agency websites were also inaccessible and subject to a cyberattack.

One of the "top secret" and "urgent" documents reveals a warning letter sent from the Supreme National Security Council to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei regarding an "emergency package to secure energy during the four cold months."

The document indicates the authorities' fears of protests erupting due to the gas shortage, citing an imbalance between energy production and consumption, especially gas during the cold months.

According to the letter, Iran faces a daily shortage of 300 million cubic meters due to the imbalance between oil and gas.

It warned that if decisions are not taken, the country's energy security will be at risk, leading to the outbreak of social and security crises in the event of electricity and gas cuts."

Accordingly, the Supreme National Security Council recommended in its letter a detailed package to manage the crisis of providing sustainable energy sources during the cold period to prevent and eliminate the threats and prevent the outbreak of social, security, and economic crises.

The Council called for the Public Prosecution to take measures to lift the ban on diesel consumption to prevent any social and security crises.

It demands that the Public Prosecution coordinate with the Ministry of Intelligence and its parallel agency in the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence to issue its directives to its centers nationwide.

The authorities did not comment on the publication of this document.



Tourist Helicopter Crashes into New York's Hudson River, Killing all Six Aboard

Emergency responders on the scene remove a helicopter from the Hudson River after it crashed, in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, 10 April 2025. EPA/SARAH YENESEL
Emergency responders on the scene remove a helicopter from the Hudson River after it crashed, in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, 10 April 2025. EPA/SARAH YENESEL
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Tourist Helicopter Crashes into New York's Hudson River, Killing all Six Aboard

Emergency responders on the scene remove a helicopter from the Hudson River after it crashed, in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, 10 April 2025. EPA/SARAH YENESEL
Emergency responders on the scene remove a helicopter from the Hudson River after it crashed, in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, 10 April 2025. EPA/SARAH YENESEL

A tourist helicopter plummeted upside down into New York City's Hudson River on Thursday killing all six people on board, including a Spanish family with three children and the pilot, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Agustin Escobar, an executive at Germany-based technology company Siemens, was among those killed, according to the New York Times, which cited unnamed law enforcement sources.

New York City police referred requests for confirmation that Escobar was aboard the helicopter to the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard said in a statement that it did not yet have the names of the victims. Siemens did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours, said Reuters.

Video of the crash showed what appeared to be a large object plunging into the river, followed seconds later by what appeared to be a helicopter blade. Afterwards, emergency and police boats were seen circling around a patch of river where the helicopter was submerged, with only what appeared to be the aircraft's landing gear poking above the water's surface.

The Bell 206 chopper, operated by New York Helicopter Tours, departed at about 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) from a downtown helicopter pad and flew north over the Hudson River, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

It turned south when it reached the George Washington Bridge and crashed minutes later, hitting the water upside down and sinking near Lower Manhattan about 3:15 p.m., just off Hoboken, New Jersey, Tisch added.

Dani Horbiak, a 29-year-old resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, said she witnessed the crash from her window while working from home.

"I looked out my window right here, and I saw the helicopter falling to pieces, and I watched multiple pieces splashed down into the river below, and I was wondering what happened," she told Reuters. "But I'm putting the pieces together... it does sound like I was maybe hearing the propeller smacking into something."

Horbiak said she was "shaken" by the incident and later called emergency services, which said it had already dispatched responders to the scene.

Divers helped remove the victims from the water. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to area hospitals, where they died.

BIRD'S EYE VIEW

The airspace around Manhattan is crowded with helicopters offering tourists a bird's-eye view of the sights, with at least two dozen operators listed on tour website Viator. Many of the operators also offer helicopter shuttle services to the area airports.

New York Helicopter Tours, which offers sightseeing flights for as little as $114 per person on its website, did not respond immediately to a request for comment about the crash.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the tour helicopter was in a Special Flight Rules Area established in New York, which means no air traffic control services were being provided when it crashed.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, with the NTSB leading the investigation.

Duffy said the FAA was also launching a Safety Review Team on Thursday evening. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and a team from the board will arrive in New York on Thursday and plan to hold a media briefing on Friday.

In 2018, five passengers aboard a helicopter died in New York when the aircraft crashed into the East River, while the pilot survived. The helicopter was on a charter flight that featured an open door to allow passengers to take photographs of the skyline.

A New York City Police spokesperson said police boats had assisted in Thursday's rescue efforts.

Helicopter safety has been a topic of discussion in the US Congress after 67 people were killed the crash of an American Airlines regional jet and Army helicopter on January 29 near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. The FAA has since permanently restricted helicopter traffic near that airport and is reviewing helicopter operations near other major airports.