Ahwazi Arab militants have claimed responsibility for a third bomb attack in recent weeks on an Iranian pipeline as part of an ongoing struggle against the regime.

The Falahiyeh brigade of the Brigades of the Martyr Mohieldain al-Naser has claimed responsibility for the attack on a pipeline running from Falahiyeh (Shadegan) to Mashour (Mahshahr) on the morning of 24 September. The pipeline feeds the Marun Petrochemicals complex, a leading exporter of polyethylene to countries such as China and India. The operation is in line with the group’s objective of disrupting government-owned industrial facilities, which it says represent occupation and theft of resources on indigenous Arab land.

The Brigades of the Martyr Mohieldain al-Naser’s statement also warned Arab states not to fall into the trap set by President Rouhani, who is portraying himself as “moderate” even while political dissidents are being sentenced to death and executed. It stresses that it is fighting for Ahwazis’ legitimate right to self-determination and warns of surprises ahead.

Officials have claimed that the pipeline was leaking and exploded with no human casualties, although other reports have been quoted as suggesting that four people were injured due to an electrical fault.

Earlier this month, a huge explosion at a petrochemicals plant in Abadan on September 1 was claimed as a military strike by the Al-Areen Brigade for Liberation of Al-Ahwaz in co-operation with the Al-Ababil Brigade of the Free Syria Army. At the time, plant officials claimed the explosion was due to an electrical fault. The explosion came less than a month after a major gas pipeline feeding Iran’s massive Marun petrochemicals complex was blown up by the Brigades of the Martyr Mohieldain al-Naser, the military wing of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Al-Ahwaz (ASMLA). Ahwazi militant groups have targeted pipelines in the past in an attempt to cripple the regime’s main source of income.

Ahwaz News Agency