An Arab separatist group in Iran has claimed carrying out two pipeline bombings in the country's oil-rich southwest.
The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Al-Ahwaz said on its website on January 4 that its militants had blown up two oil pipelines in coordinated attacks in the Khuzestan region two days earlier.
The Interior Ministry denied the attacks took place.
The statement from the separatist group said the attack was in response to Tehran signing new oil and gas agreements with foreign companies following last year's nuclear deal with world powers.
Ahwazi Arabs, a minority in Iran, are predominately located in the Khuzestan region on the border with Iraq.
Armed groups fighting for greater autonomy or independence have carried out intermittent attacks in Iran for decades, including on oil installations.
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