Iran Esmail Khatib
FILE - Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib attends the inauguration ceremony of the 6th term of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Iran, May 21, 2024.
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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 intensified its attacks on Gulf oil and gas infrastructure Thursday in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian gas field, dramatically raising the stakes in a war that's sending shock waves through the global economy. Fuel prices soared around the world. U.S. President Donald Trump warned that if Iran continues striking its neighbors’ energy infrastructure, the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of its gas field. A senior administration official told the Associated Press that the Pentagon asked the White House for another $200 billion as the war shows no signs of ending soon.
