Israel unleashes war on energy production and new Gulf fury at Iran
Iran launched ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia's capital as senior Muslim and Arab diplomats were meeting in Riyadh, and damaged a natural gas facility in Qatar on Wednesday, in a sign that the US-Israeli war on Iran is spiralling into a no-holds-barred conflict.
Iran’s attacks on the Gulf were a reprisal against Israel's strike on Iran’s half of South Pars, the world’s largest gas field that the Islamic Republic shares with Qatar.
Gulf states rushed to condemn the initial Israeli attack that prompted Iran’s retaliation, but responded with fury at Iran.
The UAE foreign ministry said in response to Israel's strike that targeting energy facilities “constitutes a dangerous escalation” that “poses a direct threat to global energy security, as well as to the security and stability of the region and its people”.
“The Israeli targeting of facilities linked to Iran’s South Pars field, an extension of Qatar’s North Field, is a dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region,” Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, wrote on X.
The Trump administration leaked to Axios that it was angry when Israel attacked Iranian fuel depots, which sparked dangerous acid rain in Tehran earlier this month. But Axios reported on Wednesday that the Israeli attack on South Pars was coordinated with the US.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Trump approved the strike in response to Iran's decision to take control of the Strait of Hormuz. They said he could approve or disapprove of further strikes depending on how Iran acts in the waterway.
“Is the Trump Administration on board for this tit-for-tat escalation on oil and gas facilities? “ Kristin Diwan, a resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, wrote on X. "Are they prepared for the fallout?”
Later on Wednesday, CNN reported a US official told the news outlet that the US did not attack Iran's gas field; Israel did.
Gulf fury at Iran grows
The Israeli attack comes as the US looks to pressure Gulf states into joining the US-Israeli war on Iran.
While countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even the UAE were opposed to the war, experts say the daily attacks on their cities and energy infrastructure pose an acute problem. If the Gulf monarchs do not respond, they risk failing to demonstrate their red lines to Tehran and leaving the Islamic Republic empowered to strike in the future.
The strikes elicited a particularly angry response from Qatar.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that it had declared the military attache and the security attache at Iran’s embassy in Doha, in addition to those working in the two attache offices, “persona non grata”.
Nawaf al-Thani, a Qatari security analyst, wrote on X that Iran posed a risk to global energy supplies.
“Iran’s aggression has now expanded to targeting Ras Laffan, a reckless and dangerous escalation into one of the world’s most critical energy hubs. When LNG facilities are brought into the line of fire, this is no longer just a regional conflict, it is a direct threat to global energy security,” Thani wrote.
The Israeli strike was viewed as a major escalation because it marked the first time Iran’s energy production was targeted.
A 'new level of confrontation'
Iran was forced to halt gas flows to Iraq as a result of the strike. Iran itself produces 75 percent of its natural gas from the field.
Iran said in response that it would target Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex; the UAE's al-Hosn gas field; Qatar's Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex, Mesaieed Holding Company, and Ras Laffan refinery.
The retaliation was swift.
Qatar said shortly after that Iranian missiles caused “extensive damage” to Ras Laffan. The facility had already been closed due to the war, but the strike could make it more difficult for Qatar to resume production.
“An eye for an eye equation is in effect, and a new level of confrontation has begun,” Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X.
Iran’s decision to target Riyadh while senior Arab and Muslim officials were meeting there is also a major escalation. Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted drones and ballistic missiles in its oil-rich Eastern Province, as well as four ballistic missiles launched at the capital on Wednesday.
The kingdom is hosting foreign ministers from several Arab and Islamic countries to discuss ways to bolster regional security and stability amid the war on Iran.
Energy prices, already soaring as a result of the war, have risen further. Brent, the international benchmark, traded up 2.66 percent on Wednesday afternoon at $110.24 per barrel.
Many experts say this price has become disconnected from the physical cost of energy, which is even higher. For example, crude purchased from Oman, which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, is now trading at around $150 per barrel.
Gulf states have seen oil export terminals and storage facilities attacked, but experts warn that if the conflict devolves into a wider war on energy production, it could leave lasting scars on the global economy after the shooting stops.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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