As the Middle East conflict enters its sixth week, a growing range of Iranian industries are being targeted by US-Israeli strikes, including steel plants, cement factories, and petrochemical complexes.
Saturday saw multiple attacks on petrochemical plants in southern Iran, some of them associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Mahshahr and Bandar Imam petrochemical complexes are at the heart of Iran’s industrial economy and a major source of export revenue. They process gas and oil into chemicals used in plastics, fertilizers, and other essential industries.
There was also an attack on a cement factory in Hormozgan province, according to a local official, who said that the plant continued to operate, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Over the past few days, several harbors in southern Iran have also been targeted, according to state media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Friday that Israeli strikes had destroyed 70% of Iran’s steel production capacity, a figure CNN is unable to verify.
A second attack on the huge Mobarakeh Steel Complex in Esfahan late Wednesday inflicted “fundamental destruction” and brought production lines “to a complete halt,” the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
“Under these circumstances, continuing operations are not possible,” Fars said.
