Iranian Parliament to Send Fact-Finding Mission to Mahshahr over Blaze
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian parliament plans to dispatch a fact-finding committee to the southwestern port city of Mahshahr over a huge blaze at a petrochemical refinery complex in the city, the spokesman of the parliament’s Energy Commission said.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Asadollah Qarehkhani pointed to the measures taken by the Energy Commission to find the causes of the recent fire at Bu Ali Sina petrochemical refinery complex, saying that a meeting between the commission and oil ministry officials on the issue is planned to be held on Tuesday.
After hearing the report of oil ministry officials, several members of the Energy Commission will be dispatched to Bu Ali Sina petrochemical complex to estimate damages and probe into the incident, he said.
Known at the most serious incident in the history of Iran’s petrochemical industry, the fire at Bu Ali Sina petrochemical refinery complex went out at around 2 a.m. local time on Saturday.
The fire had broken out on Wednesday, when a huge reservoir tank full of Naphta was ablaze.
After several rounds of futile attempt to put out the fire at the blazing tank, officials decided to discharge its content and let the remaining material burn itself out.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, who was in Mahshahr to handle the operation directly, has ruled out the possibility of any acts of sabotage or arson attack, saying the fire was a result of a technical failure.
The minister also told reporters on Saturday morning that safety operations are still underway to cool down the nearby facilities to prevent a new fire.
