Iranian officials accused Israel on Wednesday of carrying out a sabotage operation that blew up a natural gas pipeline last week.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji provided no evidence for his claim, but told Iranian state news that the attack was the latest in a series of Israeli efforts to destabilize Iranian infrastructure.

“The explosion of the gas pipeline was an Israeli plot,” Owji said. “The enemy intended to disturb gas service in the provinces and put people’s gas distribution at risk.”

“The evil action and plot by the enemy was properly managed,” he added.

“The goal that the enemies were pursuing were to cut the gas in the major provinces of the country and it did not happen,” Owji said last week. “Except for the number of villages that were near the gas transmission lines, no province suffered a cut.”

Two men look at flames after a natural gas pipeline explodes outside the city of Boroujen in the western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, in early Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Reza Kamali Dehkordi/Fars News Agency via AP)

Meanwhile, Israel has carried out attacks in Iran that have predominantly targeted its nuclear program. The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog warned earlier this month that Iran is “not entirely transparent” regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran’s program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon “in our hands.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.