Iran formally announced retaliatory strikes against Gulf energy sites on Wednesday, following Israeli missile attacks on the South Pars gasfield — the world’s largest natural gas reserve. The Revolutionary Guards named specific targets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar and told workers and residents to evacuate. The declaration sent oil prices surging and placed global energy security in acute jeopardy.
South Pars is shared between Iran and Qatar and has been the backbone of Iran’s energy economy for decades. The Israeli strike on the field — reportedly with US authorization — was the first direct assault on Iran’s fossil fuel production in the conflict. Washington and Tel Aviv had deliberately avoided this step until now, understanding that crossing it would trigger exactly the kind of sweeping response now unfolding.
Iran’s state media identified Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities as imminent targets. All personnel in the vicinity were told to leave immediately. The governor of Asaluyeh said the US-Israeli escalation had been “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a phase of total economic warfare.
Oil prices climbed to $108.60 per barrel — close to $110 — while European gas benchmarks surged more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already plummeted 60% from pre-war volumes, a combined result of infrastructure damage and Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The threat of Iranian strikes on Gulf energy facilities raised the prospect of a collapse in export capacity that could send global energy prices to new record highs.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that attacking energy infrastructure endangered global energy security and the welfare of millions across the region. The conflict had clearly entered a new and more destructive phase — one in which energy was no longer collateral damage but the primary battlefield. With Iran’s retaliatory announcement made public and specific, the world faced a crisis with few modern precedents and potentially enormous global consequences.