Iran’s retaliatory salvo threatened the Gulf’s most vital energy assets on Wednesday after an Israeli strike on the South Pars gasfield triggered an immediate and detailed declaration of intent from the Revolutionary Guards. Facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar were named as imminent targets. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the threat to the Gulf’s most critical energy infrastructure raised fears of a catastrophic supply disruption.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli strike — reportedly with US authorization — was the first direct attack on Iranian fossil fuel production in the conflict. Both countries had previously avoided this step, knowing that targeting Iranian energy infrastructure risked triggering the kind of sweeping retaliation now materializing in real time.
Iran’s state broadcaster 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 imminent strikes. All personnel were told to leave immediately. The governor of Asaluyeh province called the US-Israeli escalation “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a full-scale economic war phase.
Brent crude rose nearly 5% to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas prices climbed more than 7.5% to above €55.50 per megawatt hour. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure attacks and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to ship its own crude through the strait unimpeded while preventing Gulf neighbors from doing so. The threat of Iran’s retaliatory salvo against Gulf energy assets raised fears of a global energy supply catastrophe.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that attacking energy infrastructure threatened global energy security and the welfare of regional populations. The retaliatory salvo’s targets — among the most critical energy assets in the world — represented the highest-stakes moment the Gulf energy war had yet produced. With Iran’s clock running and specific targets named, the world braced for what might be the conflict’s most consequential and damaging night.