A serious and unprecedented escalation signaled by Iran’s detailed strike list against Gulf energy sites on Wednesday, following an Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar and issued evacuation orders, giving their threat an operational specificity that alarmed global markets and governments. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the detailed list made clear the scope of Iran’s intended retaliation.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli attack — reportedly with US backing — was the first direct strike on Iranian fossil fuel production in the conflict. Washington and Tel Aviv had previously treated this as an implicit red line, but crossing it triggered Iran’s most detailed and operationally specific military threat of the war.
The detailed strike list published 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. All workers and residents near these sites were told to evacuate immediately. Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar called the US-Israeli attack “political suicide” and declared Iran was now in a full-scale economic war.
Brent crude climbed nearly 5% to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas benchmarks jumped more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to ship its own crude through the strait unimpeded while blocking Gulf neighbors from doing so — a strategic weapon that had given it significant economic leverage throughout the conflict.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that targeting energy infrastructure threatened global energy security and the welfare of millions. The operational specificity of Iran’s detailed strike list gave its threat a credibility that distinguished it from earlier declarations. With named facilities, evacuation orders, and a tight window, the world was confronting an energy crisis that had moved from speculation to immediate and concrete danger.