Amid the ongoing airstrikes between United States and Iran, Tehran has acknowledged that its power infrastructure has come under attack, signalling the widening impact of the conflict beyond military targets.
Iran's Energy Ministry issued a call for people to use less power in southern provinces. The ministry said the regions were facing unusually high temperatures alongside damage caused by attacks on the power network, reported news agency Associated Press (AP).
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It further mentioned that the affected areas "are currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure".
The ministry did not specify whether the attacks had hit power plants, transmission lines or other parts of the electricity system.
The development comes after US President Donald Trump had threatened to target bridges and power plants as the United States contests Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
State power company details scale of damage
{{/usCountry}}The development comes after US President Donald Trump had threatened to target bridges and power plants as the United States contests Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
State power company details scale of damage
{{/usCountry}}Separately, the chief executive of Iran's state-run Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said the country's electricity grid has suffered a significant loss in capacity following the recent attacks, as per a report by Iran Wire.
Reportedly, the national grid has lost around 4,200 megawatts of electricity generation capacity, while more than 2,000 locations across the country's power infrastructure have been damaged.
The company's CEO, Mohammad Allah-Dad, said the financial impact on the electricity sector has exceeded 60 trillion tomans, which the company estimated to be about US$1 billion at current free-market exchange rates.
Referring to the facilities that were hit, Allah-Dad said parts of Iran's critical electricity infrastructure had sustained serious damage. He said technical assessments showed the grid's capacity had fallen by around 4,200 megawatts and that damage at more than 2,000 locations had weakened the system's resilience and affected the speed of restoring services during periods of peak demand.
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He also said the combination of infrastructure damage, extreme summer temperatures and rising electricity consumption had placed heavy pressure on the grid.
Power outages reported as restoration efforts continue
The latest assessment comes as residents in several Iranian cities have reported electricity cuts lasting several hours during the peak summer season. The reported loss of 4,200 megawatts also comes against the backdrop of years of recurring nationwide rolling blackouts.