Strikes hit the world
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran expanded its attacks on major energy facilities in the Middle East, prompting strong warnings Thursday from Arab Gulf states that called it a dangerous escalation that threatened to bring them into direct combat with Tehran.
The attacks come after Israel killed Iran’s intelligence minister and reportedly attacked the world’s largest natural gas field in Iran, as the war increased pressure on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates denounced Iranian attacks on their natural gas fields, and Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat said the attacks on the kingdom meant “what little trust there was before has been completely shattered.”
It is still unclear what steps the Gulf Arab states might take militarily as they have sought to avoid entering combat alongside the United States and Israel in the war, now in its third week. While Israel did not claim responsibility for the South Pars gas field attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz promised more “surprises” after saying he killed Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib in an earlier airstrike as he attempts to behead the leaders of Tehran’s theocracy.
Iran condemned the attack on South Pars and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could encompass the entire world.”
In Washington, President Donald Trump said 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 “massively blow up 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.
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
Oil prices rise amid attacks on important energy supplies
The United States was informed about Israel’s plans to attack Iran’s huge South Pars natural gas field but did not participate in it, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say whether the Trump administration agreed with Israel’s decision to attack the gas field, part of the world’s largest such resource and a mainstay of Iran’s energy supplies.
Iran intensified attacks on the energy facilities of its Persian Gulf neighbors, hitting gas facilities in Qatar after Israel launched the attack on the South Pars offshore natural gas field it shares with Doha. In response, Qatar ordered Iranian embassy officials to leave the country within 24 hours.
Tehran also attacked the Habshan gas facility and the Bab field in the United Arab Emirates, which the government called a “dangerous escalation” in the Islamic Republic’s war against Israel and the United States. Abu Dhabi authorities say gas operations were shut down after interceptions at the sites.
The attacks on Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are increasing pressure on the Arab Gulf states, which have been defending themselves against Iranian attacks since the war began on February 28, but have not taken any offensive action against Iran as their military bases, civilian sites and energy operations have been attacked.
The price of oil rose another 5% to more than $108 a barrel in international markets as Iran continued to squeeze the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels.
As the Trump administration looks for ways to increase oil supplies, the Treasury Department eased sanctions on Venezuela on Wednesday, saying American companies will be allowed to do business with the country’s state oil and gas company.
A day earlier, Israel killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the Basij paramilitary force of the Revolutionary Guard, General Gholam Reza Soleimani.
Iran retaliated by launching missile attacks against Israel. Israel said an Iranian missile hit the occupied West Bank, marking the first deaths in the territory during the Iran war, although debris from the missile has damaged homes and businesses.
Iran also attacked Saudi Arabia’s vast Eastern Province, home to many of its oil fields, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
AP Photo/Bilal Hussein
First fatalities in the West Bank during the war with Iran
The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least three people were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Beit Awa when Iran fired missiles toward Israel. At least 13 other people were injured. Authorities had previously said at least four people had died, but adjusted the number as the team assessed the scene.
The Israeli military told The News that an Iranian missile – not shrapnel from an intercept – hit the West Bank. Officials described it as a cluster munition that passed Israel’s air defense system.
Oil facilities in Gulf countries suffer more blows
Qatar Energy said in X that a missile hit its massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, sparking a fire that caused “extensive” damage before being extinguished. The company had already stopped production there due to Iranian attacks.
The company warned Thursday that additional Iranian missile attacks damaged more liquefied natural gas sites in the energy-rich nation, “causing significant fires and extensive additional damage,” but there were no injuries and crews were battling the flames.
An attack set a ship on fire early Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, authorities said. The British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center said “a ship has been hit by an unknown projectile, causing a fire on board.”
He said the ship was off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. More than 20 ships have been attacked during the Iran war as Tehran attempts to effectively close the waterway, which runs from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Iran insists the waterway is open, but not to the United States or its allies.
via News
Iran launches more missiles with multiple warheads against Israel
In response to Larijani’s killing, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday it had attacked central Israel with multi-warhead missiles that are more likely to evade defense systems.
Larijani, a senior political advisor to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was sanctioned by the US Treasury in January for his role in “coordinating” Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mokhtaba Khamenei expressed his condolences for Larijani’s murder, saying in a statement published in Iranian media that his murder “shows the extent of his importance and the hatred of the enemies of Islam towards him.”
The younger Khamenei has made no public appearances since his father was killed in the first volleys of the war, during which he was also reportedly wounded.
More than 1,300 people in Iran have died during the war. Israeli attacks have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese (about 20% of the population), according to the Lebanese government, which says 968 people have been killed.
In Israel, 14 people were killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 US service members have died.
___
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Watson from San Diego. News writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Darlene Superville, Aamer Mahdani and Michelle L. Price in Washington, and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.