Tehran Vows to Strike Gulf Oil, Gas Facilities

Targeting Energy Infrastructure

Iran vowed on Wednesday to strike oil and gas facilities throughout the Persian Gulf in retaliation for an attack on the country’s South Pars gas field earlier that day. The operation marks one of the first reported strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began last month, and it risks exacerbating an already unprecedented disruption to global energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

South Pars is part of the world’s largest natural gas reserve, which is jointly owned by Iran and Qatar. (The latter calls its portion of the reserve North Dome.) Both nations blamed Israel for the attack; the Israeli military has not yet commented on the accusations. Tehran’s oil ministry reported on Wednesday that numerous Iranian facilities at South Pars were damaged, though the extent of the destruction remains unclear. Qatar’s facilities did not appear to have been targeted.

Wednesday’s attack was a “dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari wrote on X.

Until now, Israel and the United States have largely refrained from targeting Iran’s energy production facilities, in part due to fear of Tehran retaliating with strikes on Gulf countries’ oil and gas industries. It appears that their concerns were warranted.

In response to the South Pars attack, Iran characterized several prominent regional energy sites as “direct and legitimate targets” and warned them to be evacuated immediately ahead of looming strikes. The facilities listed were Saudi Arabia’s Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex; the United Arab Emirates’ al-Hosn gas field; and Qatar’s Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex and Ras Laffan Refinery.

Later on Wednesday, QatarEnergy said in a statement that Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is operated by QatarEnergy and is where the refinery as well as other natural gas facilities and infrastructure are located, had been the “subject of missile attacks” that caused “extensive damage” that evening.

Oil prices shot up on Wednesday in light of the South Pars attack and ensuing Iranian threat, with Brent crude costs hitting more than $109 per barrel. However, experts suspect that the South Pars attack will have a limited effect on the global supply of gas, since Iran uses most of its reserves domestically; South Pars makes up as much as 75 percent of the country’s natural gas production.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an overnight strike on Wednesday. The operation follows Israel’s assassination on Tuesday of Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Basij militia, an all-volunteer paramilitary force used to repress protests inside Iran. Tehran has confirmed all three of their deaths.

“Israel’s policy is clear and unequivocal: No one in Iran has immunity, and everyone is a target,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday. “The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and I have authorized the Israel Defense Forces to target any senior Iranian official for whom an intelligence and operational opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval.”

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A short reprieve. Pakistan announced an immediate pause in strikes against Afghanistan on Wednesday, to remain in place until midnight on Monday. Islamabad said the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and was at the request of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

“Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X. However, “in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan,” military operations will resume immediately and with renewed intensity.

Afghanistan also agreed to the pause for Eid al-Fitr but stopped short of providing its own time frame. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X that, similar to Islamabad, Kabul would “respond courageously to any aggression in the event of a threat.”

The pause comes just two days after the Taliban accused Pakistani forces of targeting a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, killing more than 400 people in the single deadliest incident since fighting between the two countries erupted last month. (On Wednesday, the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan provided a lower figure, saying it had recorded 143 deaths in the strike.) Islamabad has denied Kabul’s claims, arguing that the targets were “military and terrorist infrastructure,” not a civilian site.

Restoring the Druzhba pipeline. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed on Tuesday to repair an oil pipeline that transports Russian crude through Ukraine into Hungary. The decision comes after European Union officials offered to pay Kyiv to restore operations at the Druzhba pipeline in an effort to persuade Budapest to lift its veto on a massive aid package.

In December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban backed a nearly $104 billion EU loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort. However, Orban appears to have reneged on that promise, accusing Kyiv of deliberately blocking oil flows into Hungary to tip the scales in favor of Peter Magyar, Orban’s main opponent in elections next month.

“If there’s no oil, there’s no money,” Orban said on Tuesday. “If President Zelensky wants to get his money from Brussels, he needs to open the Druzhba oil pipeline.” Orban’s populist government has repeatedly aligned itself with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a shift away from its European peers.

Zelensky, however, has denied Hungary’s claims. “Allegations that Ukraine is deliberately obstructing oil transportation through the Druzhba pipeline are unfounded,” he wrote in a letter to European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday. “The disruption results from recent [R]ussian terrorist attacks on the pipeline and surrounding infrastructure.” Moscow has routinely targeted critical energy facilities in Ukraine, including the country’s power grid.

Mercosur’s last holdout. Paraguay became the final South American nation on Tuesday to ratify the landmark EU-Mercosur trade deal. The agreement creates one of the largest free trade zones in the world, with an integrated market of some 780 million consumers accounting for roughly 25 percent of global GDP. “This is a historic agreement for Paraguay, for the region, and for the world,” National Deputy Rodrigo Gamarra said. The deal now heads to Paraguayan President Santiago Peña for his approval.

Although all four voting Mercosur members have now signed off on the framework, the European side remains fragmented. Pushback from European farmers—who fear that the deal will flood the EU with cheap food imports—have forced some European Parliament members to object to the trade deal’s implementation. In January, lawmakers sent the agreement to the European Court of Justice for review, effectively freezing its ratification for up to two years.

However, such resistance has not stopped the European Commission from moving forward. Von der Leyen announced last month that the EU would “provisionally implement the agreement” until final ratification was given. This means that the removal of tariffs could begin as soon as May.

Odds and Ends

It’s the season of love for one Chinese university. The Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation urged students this week to “enjoy the flowers, fall in love” during their upcoming midterm break. The notice comes as Beijing continues to promote policies that Chinese authorities hope will encourage the country’s citizens to have more children; China’s birth rate fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2025, hitting a record low. All you need is love?