DUBAI, United Arab Emirates. — This Thursday, Iran intensified its attacks contra oil and gas facilities in all the Persian Gulfdramatically raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves to the entire world economy.
The attacks, in retaliation for a Israeli attack on Iranian gas field key, sent fuel prices soaring and posed the risk of directly dragging Iran’s Arab neighbors into the conflict. The fact that Tehran is targeting energy production further strained the global supplyalready under pressure due to Iran’s suffocating control over the Strait of Hormuza strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
Since the United States and Israel launched war on February 28, Iran’s top leaders have been killed in airstrikes and the country’s military capabilities have been severely degraded. Still, Iran—now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the opening salvo of the war—remains capable of carrying out missile and drone attacks that shake the Arab neighbors of the Gulf and a world economy highly dependent on the energy they produce.
Attacks on ships
A ship caught fire off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another was damaged in front Qatarwhich underlines the constant danger for the boats in the region. But efforts to avoid the strait also faced challenges: An Iranian drone hit a Saudi refinery in the Red Seawhich the country hoped to use as an alternative exit route.
The price of Brent crude oil soars
He Brent crude oilthe international benchmark, soared 118 dollars per barrelwith an increase of more than 60% since Israel and the United States started the war on February 28. The European benchmark of natural gas prices it rose 17% on Thursday and has doubled in the last month.
Attacks on energy infrastructure throughout the region Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates denounced the Iranian attacks. The secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheitdescribed the attacks as a “dangerous climbing”.
But Iran did not seem to be taking a step back. Saudi Arabia declared that SAMREF refinery in the port city of Yanbuin the Red Sea, had been hit. Saudi Arabia had begun pumping large volumes of oil west toward the Red Sea to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, a key source of natural gas for world markets, said the Iranian missiles that hit the Ras Laffan LNG facility They caused “extensive” damage, where production had already stopped after previous attacks. Damage to the facility could delay Qatar’s ability to bring supplies to market even after the war ends.
Local authorities reported that they were also Two refineries in Kuwait attacked by Iran and the gas operations in Abu Dhabi.
Attacks against Israel
In Israel, more than half a dozen waves of Iranian attacks targeting large parts of the country sent millions of people to shelters. The attacks caused damage to buildings, but no significant casualties were reported.
After the latest Iranian barrage, the Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen reported that the power grid in northern Israel suffered some damage. He noted that crews had restored power in some areas and were working to restore it in others.
Israeli media showed images of black smoke rising from the oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa.
Hegseth says Iran’s fate is in US hands
In Washington, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth He told reporters that the US military “controls the destiny” of Iran.
“Iran has the ability to make the right decisions,” he said, adding that Tehran “should not, from now on, target Arab allies, Arab countries, trying to create pain, the pain that they themselves created.”
The Trump administration has cited several war goals, including degrading Iran’s missile capabilities and its nuclear program. Killing high-ranking leaders has also been a priority for the United States and Israel.
Hegseth on Thursday hinted that more leaders could be targeted, referring specifically to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to the Basij force, a powerful internal security unit whose leader was killed by Israel earlier this week.
“The last job anyone in the world wants right now: leader of the Revolutionary Guard or the Basij, temporary jobs, all of them,” Hegseth said.
Among the Iranian energy facilities hit in recent days was the central nuclear de Bushehr. There were no injuries and the plant was not damaged, the official said. International Atomic Energy Agency.
The general Dan Cainepresident of Joint Chiefs of Staffnoted Thursday that U.S. forces continue to strike deeper into Iranian territory, with warplanes hunting Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and helicopters attacking Iranian drones. Caine further stated that the US military has also dropped 5,000-pound bombs on underground weapons storage facilities.
Israel announced on Thursday that it attacked Iranian targets in the Caspian Sea for the first time. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshanisaid the attacks hit dozens of targets, including ships, a shipyard and a command center.
The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funding for the war with Iran, a senior administration official revealed. The department sent the request to the White House, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private information.
Iran strikes back after Israel hits crucial gas field
Iran stepped up attacks on Gulf energy facilities after Israel atacara South Parsthe Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field, located offshore in the Persian Gulf and jointly owned with Qatar.
Given that about 80% of all power generated in Iran comes from natural gas, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the attack directly threatens the country’s electricity supply. Natural gas is also used to supply heating and cooking in homes throughout the Islamic Republic.
“Israel’s targeting criteria in this war have largely focused on institutions, leaders and infrastructure…” said the New York-based Soufan Center think tank. “It now seeks to inflict additional pressure on the regime by making living conditions for civilians intolerable.”
Iran condemned the attack on South Pars, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world.”
🇺🇸🇮🇷🇶🇦🇮🇱 | President Donald J. Trump claimed that the United States had no knowledge of Israel’s attack on the South Pars gas field in Iran, and that Qatar was not involved.
He accused Iran of attacking gas facilities in Qatar in response and warned that if the country… pic.twitter.com/y39b9FTHgc
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) March 19, 2026
In Washington, the president Donald Trump He stated that Israel would not attack South Pars again, but warned on social media that if Iran continued attacking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the United States would retaliate and blow up “massively the entirety” of the field.
“I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term implications it will have on Iran’s future,” Trump said on social media.
Death toll rises in third week of war
More than 1,300 people in Iran have died during the war. Israeli attacks on the Iranian-backed political and military group Hezbollah in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people — about 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 1,000 people have been killed. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah fighters.
In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. Four people were also killed overnight in the occupied West Bank by an Iranian missile attack, according to officials.
At least 13 US service members have died.
Iran announced the execution of three men detained in nationwide protests in January, the first such sentences known to have been carried out, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.
You might also be interested: “Trump attacks NATO for not helping to secure the Strait of Hormuz”
Leave a Reply