BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29. Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said US attacks on the country’s energy sector have reduced gas production capacity by about 230 million cubic metres, according to state media IRIN.
Asked about gas supplies as the cold season approaches, Mohajerani said efforts were under way to restore around 100 million cubic metres of the lost capacity.
She said the US-Israeli attacks came on top of an existing imbalance in Iran’s energy supply that the government had faced since taking office. According to Mohajerani, the authorities had managed to cope with the imbalance through several previous winters and summers with public cooperation.
As a result, northern Iran is likely to face energy supply problems this winter, she said.
“Based on the pattern of past years, we will probably have problems in the northern provinces,” Mohajerani said, adding that the Interior Ministry had warned provincial governors and measures had been taken to protect people’s daily lives.
The government would seek, through the Supreme Energy Council, to keep industrial production running while ensuring households are not adversely affected, she added.
Mohajerani said she hoped Iran would get through the winter “with minimal blackouts and minimal problems”.
