Iran attacks aluminum, but in Liepāja we're still waiting for an attack from autumn rains

Iran has decided to prove it can attack not only neighboring countries, but also aluminum. At Bahrain's aluminum plant "Alba" on Saturday, an attack occurred in which two people were injured. More detailed information is not being provided, which is understandable — who wants to admit they lost a war against metal.

"Alba" is one of the world's largest aluminum producers, which means they have enough experience to know — aluminum is a stubborn material. As one Liepāja metalworking specialist said: "If they think aluminum is hard to defeat, let them try working with our North Pier structures. There's such a mixture of metal and salt there that even storms are afraid to come too close."

While Riga worries about gasoline prices today, Liepāja residents have other priorities — how to protect their metal objects from natural oxidation. Especially in winter, when at the North Pier you can observe both a romantic sunset and how corrosion slowly but relentlessly wins the battle against proximity to the sea.

"We fight metal enemies here every day," explains a local resident. "Only ours are salt, moisture and wind. Much more civilized than rockets, but the long-term result is similar — everything turns brown and starts to crack."

The Iran-Bahrain conflict makes one think about how well we're doing with our own metal challenges. At least no one is shooting at our aluminum — it just slowly dissolves in the Baltic Sea climate.