Israel’s bombing of Iran’s South Pars gasfield triggered sweeping retaliation threats on Wednesday that shook Gulf energy markets and pushed oil toward $110 a barrel. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards named specific energy installations in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as imminent targets and ordered immediate evacuations. The conflict had moved into a new and far more economically destructive phase.
South Pars is shared between Iran and Qatar and holds the planet’s largest reserves of natural gas. The Israeli attack — reportedly carried out with US consent — was the first strike on Iran’s fossil fuel sector since the war began. Washington and Tel Aviv had carefully avoided such a move until now, knowing that targeting Iranian energy infrastructure risked triggering a cascade of retaliation that could disrupt global energy supplies.
The threatened targets announced by Iran’s state media included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities. Workers and residents were told to evacuate without delay. Iran’s Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar said the US-Israeli strike was “political suicide” and that Iran was now at war on an economic front.
Oil prices rose nearly 5% to $108.60 a barrel on Wednesday afternoon. European gas prices surged more than 7.5%. The backdrop was already grim: Gulf oil exports had fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had maintained its own crude exports through the strait while systematically disrupting those of its Gulf neighbors.
Qatar’s government spokesperson called on the international community to protect energy infrastructure from attack, warning that such actions threatened global energy security and the welfare of millions. The conflict, already economically damaging, now threatened to become truly catastrophic for world energy markets. With Iran’s clock running and specific targets identified, the coming hours carried enormous stakes for the global economy.
