Oil Facility Fires Reported in Iran's Southwestern Ahvaz Region

CAIRO - Several oil facility fires have occurred in Iran's southwestern Ahvaz region during the past 48 hours, Arab media reported Saturday. The reports came on the heels of a massive oil refinery fire this week in the capital, Tehran.

The fires followed the suspicious sinking of Iran's largest naval ship, the Kharg, earlier in the week. The string of fires and the sinking of the ship caused speculation among Arab media and internationally based Persian news channels that Israel might have been behind the incidents. Iran, however, said both events were "accidents." London-based Iran analyst Ali Nourizadeh told VOA that he thought the latest fires in Ahvaz probably weren't acts of sabotage, because there are oil field fires in Ahvaz every summer. The sinking of the Kharg and the Tehran refinery fire, he argued, probably were sabotage, despite Iranian government denials.