Iran drew its energy weapons against Gulf neighbors on Wednesday after the South Pars gasfield was struck in a historic first by Israeli forces. The Revolutionary Guards named specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as targets for imminent strikes and ordered immediate evacuation. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as Iran’s energy weapons were pointed at the Gulf’s most critical infrastructure for the first time in the conflict.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar and central to Iran’s economy. The historic Israeli strike — reportedly with US consent — was the first direct attack on Iranian fossil fuel production. Washington and Tel Aviv had previously avoided this move, but crossing this threshold triggered Iran’s most specific and credible retaliatory threat of the entire war — one in which energy had become the primary weapon.
Threatened facilities named 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 were ordered to evacuate immediately. Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar condemned the US-Israeli strike as “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a full-scale economic war.
Oil prices climbed to $108.60 per barrel — close to $110 — while European gas prices surged more than 7.5%. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war volumes due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait while blocking Gulf neighbors’ shipments — a strategic weapon that gave it significant economic leverage and that was now being supplemented by the threat of direct strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure.
Qatar’s government spokesperson warned that attacking energy infrastructure endangered global energy security and regional populations. The drawing of Iran’s energy weapons against Gulf neighbors represented a new and more dangerous phase of the conflict — one in which the Gulf’s own energy wealth had become a potential weapon against its producers. The coming hours would determine whether those weapons would be fired.