Smoke billows over the petrochemical special economic zone in Mashhad, Iran, after an airstrike. Not directly related to the article content. [Reuters Yonhap News]

Israel has launched a large-scale airstrike targeting the petrochemical industry, a key pillar of Iran's economy.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on April 6 (local time) that a major Iranian petrochemical complex was struck, halting its operations.

In a video statement, he said, "We delivered a powerful blow to the largest facility in Asaluyeh, which is responsible for approximately 50% of Iran's petrochemical production."

Asaluyeh is a strategic hub for Iran's energy industry, adjacent to the South Pars, the world's largest offshore gas field in Iran's southern waters.

Previously, on April 4, Israel also carried out an airstrike on the petrochemical special economic zone in Mashhad, Khuzestan Province, in southwestern Iran.

Minister Katz emphasized, "Both key facilities, which account for about 85% of Iran's petrochemical exports, are now inoperable. This will be a devastating economic blow worth tens of billions of dollars to the Iranian regime."

Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) confirmed in a statement that "some ancillary facilities of the petrochemical industry within the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) were attacked by enemy forces," but added, "The situation is currently being managed stably."

The company further stated that safety, fire, and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the scene after the attack to manage the emergency situation and that they are investigating the extent of the technical damage.

Israel has recently been concentrating its attacks on key industrial infrastructure to cripple Iran's war-fighting capabilities.

On April 18 of last month, Israel also bombed the South Pars gas field and the Asaluyeh natural gas refining facilities. Subsequently, in retaliation, Iran launched large-scale airstrikes using missiles and drones on energy facilities, including gas fields in the Gulf region.