Iran issued its boldest energy strike warning of the entire conflict on Wednesday after Israel carried out a historic attack on the South Pars gasfield — the world’s largest natural gas reserve. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as imminent targets and ordered evacuation. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the boldness and specificity of Iran’s warning alarmed global energy markets and governments.
South Pars, shared between Iran and Qatar, is at the center of Iran’s gas export economy. The historic Israeli attack — reportedly with US backing — was the first direct strike on Iranian fossil fuel production since the conflict began. Both Washington and Tel Aviv had previously avoided this move, but the decision to proceed triggered the most specific and alarming military statement Tehran had issued in the war.
Threatened facilities named by Iran’s state media included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities. Workers and residents were told to evacuate without any delay. The governor of Asaluyeh province called the US-Israeli attack “political suicide” and declared the conflict had moved into a full-scale economic war phase.
Brent crude rose to $108.60 per barrel — a nearly 5% gain — while European gas benchmarks climbed more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had continued exporting its own crude through the strait unimpeded while preventing Gulf neighbors from doing so — an imbalance that had given it a significant strategic and economic advantage throughout the conflict.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that targeting energy infrastructure posed a grave threat to global energy security, regional populations, and the environment. The boldness of Iran’s warning — backed by specific targets, evacuation orders, and a declared window of hours — reflected the seriousness with which Tehran viewed the Israeli attack on South Pars. The world was left in little doubt that the Gulf’s energy war had reached a historic and potentially transformative moment.