Iran placed Gulf energy infrastructure under immediate threat on Wednesday, responding to an Israeli strike on the South Pars gasfield by naming specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as targets for imminent attacks. The Revolutionary Guards issued evacuation orders and set a timeframe of “coming hours.” Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the conflict’s economic dimension became its most dangerous yet.
South Pars holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli strike — reportedly with US authorization — was the first direct attack on Iran’s fossil fuel sector in the conflict. Both Washington and Tel Aviv had previously avoided targeting Iranian energy infrastructure, understanding the severe global consequences of doing so. The decision to proceed marked a definitive strategic shift with immediate and alarming implications.
Iran’s state media named the Samref refinery and Jubail complex in Saudi Arabia, the al-Hosn gasfield in the UAE, and Qatar’s Mesaieed complex and Ras Laffan refinery as targets. All workers and residents were ordered to evacuate without delay. The governor of Asaluyeh province said the conflict had entered a “full-scale economic war” and described the US-Israeli decision to strike South Pars as an act of “political suicide.”
Brent crude rose to $108.60 a barrel, while European gas prices climbed more than 7.5% to over €55.50 per megawatt hour. Gulf oil exports had already 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 preventing Gulf neighbors from doing so — a strategic advantage that had shaped the economic dynamics of the conflict from the start.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that targeting energy infrastructure was a threat to global energy security and the region’s people and environment. With Iran’s specific targets identified, evacuation orders issued, and a timeframe set, the threat carried unmistakable credibility. The world’s energy markets — and the governments and economies that depended on them — faced a moment of maximum uncertainty.