Iran has acknowledged that its power infrastructure has come under attack amid the ongoing exchange of airstrikes with the United States, signalling that the conflict is increasingly affecting critical civilian infrastructure.
The country's Energy Ministry has urged residents in southern provinces to reduce electricity consumption, citing a combination of extreme heat and damage to the power network.
Energy Ministry Issues Power Conservation Appeal
According to the ministry, southern regions are grappling with unusually high temperatures while also dealing with the impact of attacks on the electricity network.
The ministry said the affected areas "are currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure".
It did not specify whether the strikes had damaged power plants, transmission lines or other components of the electricity system.
The development comes after US President Donald Trump warned that the United States could target bridges and power plants as tensions with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz escalated.
Iran Says Electricity Grid Has Suffered Heavy Damage
Separately, Mohammad Allah-Dad, Chief Executive of Iran's state-run Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir), said the country's electricity grid has sustained significant damage following the recent attacks.
According to Iran Wire, the national grid has lost around 4,200 megawatts of electricity generation capacity, while more than 2,000 locations across Iran's power infrastructure have been damaged.
Allah-Dad said the financial losses to the electricity sector have exceeded 60 trillion tomans, which the company estimated at about US$1 billion at current free-market exchange rates.
Grid Capacity Falls By 4,200 MW
Speaking about the extent of the damage, Allah-Dad said parts of Iran's critical electricity infrastructure had suffered serious damage.
He said technical assessments showed the grid's capacity had declined by around 4,200 megawatts and that damage to more than 2,000 locations had reduced the system's resilience while slowing restoration efforts during periods of peak electricity demand.
He added that the combined impact of infrastructure damage, extreme summer temperatures and rising electricity consumption had placed heavy pressure on the national grid.
Power Outages Reported Across Cities
The latest assessment comes as residents in several Iranian cities have reported electricity outages lasting several hours during the peak summer season.
The reported loss of 4,200 megawatts comes against the backdrop of years of recurring nationwide rolling blackouts.
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