Iran’s missile barrage hits Bazan oil refinery, causing temporary shutdown

A missile barrage from Iran hit Bazan oil refinery pipelines and transmission lines in the Haifa Bay over the weekend, forcing a partial temporary shutdown of some secondary facilities, though the majority of the bay is still operational, the company confirmed on Sunday.

Coinciding with the heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Monday that it received multiple reports of increasing electronic interference in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and that the interference is significantly impacting vessels’ positional reporting through automated systems.

Israel has continued to strike targets inside Iran, as Tehran launched missile attacks on Israeli territory. Iran fired around 40 missiles at the Haifa area on Saturday night. Bazan, the oil refining and petrochemicals company located in Haifa, operates the largest oil refinery in the country.

“The company wishes to update that as a result of the missile barrage to northern Israel over the weekend, localized damage to transmission pipelines was sustained. There were no casualties. The refining facilities continue to operate, while some downstream facilities at the complex have been shut down,” reads a letter from Israel Petrochemical Enterprises Ltd., the holding company whose chief company is Bazan Group, which operates the complex.

Haifa port targeted by Iranian attack

It added that Bazan is examining its activities, damages, and ability to make all of the facilities operational once more, as well as compensation options. The company’s stock dropped by 2.8% after Bazan’s announcement.

The Iranian regime had set its sights on the Haifa Port for years now and has threatened in the past to strike one of Israel’s chief strategic infrastructure sites.

Elad Hochman, executive director of Green Course, a climate activist organization, told Ynet, “The Bazan area is a disaster waiting to explode. The facilities of the largest petroleum company in Israel are located in the heart of a metropolitan city with hundreds of thousands of people. These facilities are next to schools, homes, and hospitals.”

“This makes it a strategic target in every sense of the world,” he added, “not any less than a military target or an airport; it needs to be immediately evacuated. Financial calculations cannot come at the cost of public safety.

“However, instead of acting, governments preferred to ignore the danger. This weekend’s hit was not a warning shot; it was a blaring red alarm. The next disaster is only a matter of time,” he said.