in the past year—that killed at least two men inside the petrochemical complex at Bandar Khomeini on the Persian Gulf coast.
Meanwhile, the 15th incident is being blamed on President Ahmadi-nejad himself as politicians finally pay some attention to the rash of fires and explosions across the industry. The criticism said the president forced the unit to open early so he could have a photo opportunity and boast of Iran’s expanding gasoline production.
The rash of incidents are continuing unabated and without any announced plan by the Oil Ministry to institute new safety and maintenance procedures to try to stop the deadly incidents. And there is no pressure from the Majlis for the Oil Industry to do anything.
The latest incident occurred May 31. It was a fire, according to the Mehr news agency. But Mehr said the two staff killed had died of gas asphyxiation.
It said the accident happened during periodic maintenance in one of the processing units at the Bandar Khomeini petrochemical complex, the biggest in the country.
The deadly incident came just seven days after the Abadan oil refinery was ripped by an explosion the very day that President Ahmadi-nejad came to inaugurate an expansion of the refinery.
That explosion killed from one to four men, according to various conflicting news accounts. It has now become a political cause célebre, with critics of Ahmadi-nejad charging that he is at fault for the explosion and resultant deaths.
His critics say Ahmadi-nejad insisted on inaugurating the new refinery expansion at Abadan, the oldest refinery in Iran, even though the work had not been completed. That, the critics said, caused the explosion shortly before the formal inauguration ceremony. But formal inaugurations are held all over the world before construction is actually completed. Workmen just clean up the area of where the formalities will occur and then go back to work after all the dignitaries have left.
Deputy Hamid-Reza Ka-touzian, the chairman of the Majlis Energy Committee, said he had warned the Oil Ministry of the possibility of an accident before the formal inauguration. “The explosion is neither sabotage nor a premeditated act,” he said. “It was due to the fact that the refinery was not completely ready for the inauguration.”
Deputy Emad Hossaini questioned the government’s motives in rushing the formal opening. He said a number of mandatory tests had not been carried out before the inaugural ceremony. “This incident has caused months of delay,” he said. (The oil company said the damaged unit would be back in operation in 15 days.)
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani also joined in the criticism of Ahmadi-nejad, saying, “The incident took place because of the administration’s unreasonable demand to inaugurate the refinery on May 24,” the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr from Iraqi military occupation.
A gas leak in one of the refinery units has tentatively been labeled he cause of the Abadan explosion.
The frequency of incidents has sparked speculation of sabotage, but most observers attribute the rash of fires and explosions to poor maintenance and lax safety standards.
The latest incident was the 16th fire or explosion in the last 12 months to shake the Iranian oil industry.
Back on August 4, another explosion hit a plant only days after Ahmadi-nejad had been present to inaugurate it. Five men were killed then when a blast erupted from a gas leak while workmen were welding an ethane pipeline at the Pardis petrochemical plant in Assaluyeh port on the Persian Gulf coast.
One month ago, a major explosion and fire shut down three of the country’s gas trunk lines—the same three trunk lines that were shut down by another explosion eight weeks earlier.
Pipeline breaks are a common problem in Iran, and pipeline repair is a well-practiced skill. The government did not say what caused either the February or April explosions at a sensitive point where three huge 56-inch diameter pipes come together.
Majlis Deputy Parviz Soruri, a member of the National Security Committee, asserted the cause was sabotage, although he provided no evidence for that. The government has not blamed any of the 16 damaging incidents on sabotage.
No opposition group has claimed responsibility for any of the damaging incidents.
Speculation about foreign sabotage has been sparked by the fact that most of the incidents have occurred at the country’s borders. Only the two Qom explosions and one previous explosion at Arak have happened deep inside the country.
The rash of incidents began in May of last year when a blowout at an oilfield in Kermanshah province set off a massive explosion and fire. It took almost 40 days to extinguish that fire.