Iran’s huge Pars gas field was hit on Wednesday in the first reported attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure in the Gulf during the Middle East war. This significant escalation prompted Tehran to warn its neighbors to vacate their energy facilities.
Pars is the Iranian sector of the world’s largest natural gas reserves, which Iran shares with Qatar across the Gulf. Iranian news agency Fars reported that gas tanks and parts of a refinery were hit, workers were evacuated to safety and emergency teams were trying to put out the fire.
The attack was widely reported by Israeli media as having been carried out by Israel with the consent of the United States. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Qatar, a close US ally and home to the largest American air base in the region, classified the attack as Israeli, without mentioning any Washington involvement. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman called it a “dangerous and irresponsible” escalation that puts global energy security at risk.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard quickly ordered Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to evacuate several energy facilities.
The United States and Israel had previously shunned Iran’s energy production in the Gulf, a move that could provoke reprisals against other producers and hamper the recovery of global markets from what has already been the biggest energy supply disruption in history.
But, almost three weeks, there was no sign of decompression.
‘Everyone is in the crosshairs’
in the second attack against a senior leadership figure in two days, and authorized the military to target any senior Iranian official they can locate.
Israel also struck central Beirut, the most intense attacks on the Lebanese capital in decades, on the other front of the war that Israel started with the US against Iran.
“No one in Iran has immunity and everyone is in the crosshairs,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, who announced that Israel had killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.
and I authorize the Israel Defense Forces to target any senior Iranian official for whom an operational and intelligence opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval.”
Apparently, this was the first time that Israel publicly declared that it would allow the armed forces to target enemy authorities without the need for special authorization from political leaders for such missions. Katz did not say when the order was given.
In Tehran, thousands of people took to the streets for his funeral. The crowd waved Iranian flags and carried portraits of the dead as a speaker sang: “The martyrs are paving the way, they have become more alive, burning with love.”
Iran retaliated for Larijani’s murder by launching missiles into Israel, which Israeli officials said killed two people near Tel Aviv. Tehran said it fired missiles overnight at Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba in Israel, and at American bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that the US and Israel failed to understand that the Islamic Republic is a robust political system that does not depend on any particular individual.
Prices soar
The unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies has increased the political importance of the dispute. Diesel prices in the United States surpassed $5 per gallon for the first time since the 2022 inflationary surge, which eroded support for his predecessor, Joe Biden.
and a ground offensive in the south of the country in search of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which fired on the country in solidarity with Tehran.
In the Bachoura neighborhood of central Beirut, Israel warned residents on Wednesday morning to leave a building that the Israeli government said was used by Hezbollah. The building was then completely demolished. Eyewitness videos, verified by Reuters, show the building crumbling into dust as it was hit by the dawn attack.
Abu Khalil, who lives in the area, said he helped residents flee nearby homes after the Israeli warning. “It’s just an operation to hurt, to terrorize people, to terrorize children,” he told Reuters, insisting there were no military targets nearby.
According to Lebanese authorities, no similar warnings were issued for the attacks that hit apartment buildings in two other central districts, killing at least 10 people. Smoke came from the balcony of one of the buildings as residents swept the debris from the street.
In Israel, an Iranian missile opened a crater in the asphalt and set cars on fire in a residential area of Holon, south of Tel Aviv.
“An alarm sounded, we went to the shelter and heard a deafening bang,” resident Leah Palteal told Reuters.
HRANA, a US-based human rights organization and defender of human rights in Iran, stated on Monday (16) that more than three thousand people have been killed in the country since the start of Israeli and American attacks on February 28. Lebanese authorities report that 900 people have been killed and 800,000 have been forced to flee their homes.
Iranian attacks have killed people in Iraq and several Gulf countries. Fourteen people died in Israel.
