A conflict that had already reshaped global energy markets took a catastrophic new turn Wednesday when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced a countdown to strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure following an Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield. Facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar were named as targets. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the world’s most energy-rich region braced for its worst economic crisis in decades.
South Pars holds the planet’s largest natural gas reserves and is jointly operated between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli strike on the field — carried out with reported US consent — was the first time Iran’s fossil fuel infrastructure had been directly attacked since the war began. Both countries had previously maintained that energy assets would remain off the battlefield, a restraint that was now clearly gone.
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 strikes within hours. Workers and residents were instructed to evacuate without delay. Governor Eskandar Pasalar of Asaluyeh condemned the US-Israeli action as “political suicide” and said the region had entered a total economic war unlike anything seen before in the conflict.
Brent crude rose nearly 5% to $108.60 a barrel, approaching $110, while European gas prices jumped 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 been shipping its own crude unimpeded through the strait while blocking Gulf neighbors from doing the same — a strategic advantage that had lasted throughout the conflict.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari issued a formal warning that targeting energy infrastructure constituted a threat to global energy security and regional populations. The threat was specific, public, and time-bound — a combination that gave it a credibility far beyond typical wartime rhetoric. As Iran’s clock counted down, the world held its breath waiting to see whether the energy war would claim its most devastating casualties yet.