APTOPIX Israel Iran US
Israeli authorities hang Israeli and U.S. flags at the site struck by an Iranian missile that killed two people, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
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Iran has broadened its strikes on major energy facilities in the Middle East, eliciting strong warnings from Gulf Arab states that called it a dangerous escalation that threatened to draw them into direct combat with Tehran. The strikes come after Israel killed Iran’s intelligence minister and reportedly attacked the world’s largest natural gas field in Iran. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all denounced the Iranian attacks targeting their natural gas fields. Global prices surged after the attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Israel would make no more attacks on Iran’s major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field. An AP source says the U.S. was informed of Israel’s strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field but did not take part. U.S. and Israeli strikes are taking place across Iran on Wednesday while Israeli forces are attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, displacing over a million people. Iran has targeted Gulf energy facilities and made the Strait of Hormuz nearly impassable. Oil jumped more than 5% to above $108 a barrel.
Iran hit a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and set Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze, sending international oil and gas prices soaring Thursday. The strikes followed an Israeli attack on Iran’s main natural gas field the previous day. Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to as high as $118 a barrel, up more than 60% since Israel and the United States started the war Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has roiled energy markets as the conflict escalates pressure on the region’s energy sector.
