Friday, August 12, 2011

Explosion on Iran-Turkey Pipeline

An explosion on Iran-Turkey pipeline halted the flow of Iranian gas to Turkey on Friday. The explosion occurred in in the eastern Turkish province of Agri.

“Repairs have been started on the Turkey-Iran pipeline. The repairs and restarting of gas flows will take one week," a Turkish Energy Ministry official said in Ankara [Reuters, 12 August].

Turkey was buying additional gas from Azerbaijan and Russia to cover the shortfall caused by the explosion. Last Friday, another explosion on the pipeline on the Iranian side of the border caused a major fire and briefly halted the gas flow.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Iranian offshoot, PJAK, are thought to be behind both attacks.

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