Iran strikes Israeli refinery after attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike targeting an area in the southern coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it attacked a refinery in Israel's Haifa on Saturday night in retaliation for a US-Israeli strike on its own energy infrastructure.

In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the Haifa refinery was hit by Kheibarshekan missiles in response to the attack.

Meanwhile, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said energy infrastructure in the country came under the US-Israeli attacks Saturday night, Xinhua news agency reported. A number of oil depots in the provinces of Tehran and Alborz were hit by missiles and caught fire, the company said, adding that firefighting teams are containing the fire.

Tehran came under a new wave of heavy attacks Saturday night, with huge explosions heard in different parts of the Iranian capital. On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as many others, including some of the leader's family members, high-ranking military commanders and civilians. Iran responded through several waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

Commenting on the attacks, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said on Saturday the United States and Israel aim to disintegrate and divide the country. He called on US President Donald Trump to accept that he has made a mistake and been deceived by Israel. "The Americans left a scar on the hearts of our people. We will not let go of them," Larijani said.

In an interview with the Independent Arabia, which was published on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said he and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud are in constant contact with each other. He added that Saudi officials have assured Iran that they are fully committed to not letting their territory, airspace or waters be used against Iran by Americans.

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