Iran issued what analysts called its most alarming energy threat of the entire conflict on Wednesday after the South Pars gasfield was bombed by Israeli forces. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as targets for imminent strikes and ordered evacuation. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the threat placed the world’s most energy-critical region under direct military jeopardy.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli bombing — reportedly conducted with US consent — was the first time Iran’s fossil fuel sector had been directly targeted. Washington and Tel Aviv had previously maintained this constraint, but their decision to abandon it immediately triggered the most specific, time-bound, and geographically expansive military threat Iran had issued since the conflict began.
Threatened facilities listed 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. All workers and residents were told to evacuate without delay. Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar called the US-Israeli strike “political suicide” and declared the war had entered a total economic warfare phase with global implications.
Oil prices rose nearly 5% to $108.60 a barrel, while European gas benchmarks jumped more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already been reduced by 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait while preventing Gulf neighbors from doing so, a strategic advantage that had shaped the conflict’s economic dimension from the start.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that attacking energy infrastructure constituted a threat to global energy security, the environment, and millions of regional residents. The alarm felt by markets and governments around the world was proportionate to the specificity and credibility of Iran’s threat. With specific targets named, evacuation orders issued, and a tight window declared, the world faced an energy crisis with no modern parallel.