Iran’s retaliatory threat compounded a Gulf energy crisis that had already devastated the region’s export capacity on Wednesday, following an Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as imminent targets and ordered evacuation. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as Iran’s threat added a potentially catastrophic new dimension to an already severe supply crisis.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar and central to Iran’s energy economy. The Israeli attack — reportedly with US backing — was the first direct strike on Iranian fossil fuel production since the war began. Washington and Tel Aviv had previously avoided this step, but crossing it triggered Iran’s most specific and credible retaliatory threat of the war — compounding a supply crisis that had already devastated the Gulf’s export capacity.
Iran’s state media named Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities as targets for strikes within hours. Workers and residents near these sites were told to leave without delay. The governor of Asaluyeh province condemned the US-Israeli attack as “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a full-scale economic war.
The devastation to Gulf energy exports was already stark: exports had fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to sustained infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait while blocking Gulf neighbors from doing so. Brent crude climbed to $108.60 per barrel — close to $110 — while European gas markets surged more than 7.5%. Iran’s compounding threat raised fears of pushing the remaining export capacity toward zero.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that attacking energy infrastructure threatened global energy security, regional populations, and the environment. The compounding of an already devastating export crisis by Iran’s retaliatory threat was a development with consequences that extended far beyond the Gulf. For energy-importing nations already struggling with diminished supplies and elevated prices, the threat of further disruption was a prospect that demanded urgent and effective international response.