Iranian authorities have threatened to attack oil and gas facilities in the Gulf region in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its South Pars gas field, as tensions in the ongoing conflict continue to escalate. In a statement shared by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Wednesday, the authorities claimed that five facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar “will be targeted in the coming hours,” marking a significant escalation in regional hostilities.
The threatened facilities include Saudi Arabia’s SAMREF refinery and Jubail petrochemical complex, the UAE’s Al Hosn gas field, and Qatar’s Ras Laffan refinery and Mesaieed petrochemical complex and holding company. This threat follows reports from Iranian state media that natural gas facilities associated with its offshore South Pars field – the world’s largest gas field, located off the coast of southern Iran’s Bushehr province – were attacked, with the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum stating that several facilities were damaged but no casualties were immediately reported.
Quoting unnamed sources, Israeli media reported that the country’s air force carried out the attack, part of a series of strikes by Israel and the US regime on Iranian targets since the conflict began on February 28. Retaliatory Iranian missile and drone attacks on countries in the wider Middle East, including Arab Gulf states, have persisted despite growing concerns over the conflict’s widening impact on global energy markets, with Iran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a critical waterway for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas – driving energy prices higher.
Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned Israel for targeting South Pars on Wednesday, noting that the Iranian gas field is an extension of Qatar’s North Field. In a statement shared on social media, he described the attack as “a dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region” and warned that “targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment,” while calling for restraint and adherence to international law.
Reporting from Dubai, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi noted that Gulf states are seeking to “find an off-ramp” to help end the war, but emphasized that “no matter how many voices try to call for a negotiated solution, unless there is an end to the targeting and fighting by both sides, there is really no room for a discussion on how to move forward.” He added that Saudi Arabia will host a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss the crisis, with the day’s events making it “much more urgent, much more timely and likely much more tense.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com