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Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a coordinated attack approved by the United States, destroying storage tanks and refinery infrastructure at the world’s largest known natural gas reserve and triggering an immediate Iranian threat to attack energy installations across the Gulf region. The strike marked the most significant economic assault of a 19-day war that has already produced the largest disruption to global energy supplies in recorded history.
Four gas treatment facilities in the port area of Assaluyeh, in Iran’s Bushehr Province, were damaged in the strikes. The affected plants process gas from Phases 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the offshore South Pars field. The governor of Assaluyeh said the facilities had been taken offline to contain and prevent the spread of fire. Workers were evacuated before emergency and firefighting crews moved in. According to sources with knowledge of the operation, the strike knocked out roughly one-fifth of Iran’s gas processing capacity — an impact with consequences extending to the country’s electricity sector.
Two senior Israeli officials confirmed the strike was coordinated with and approved by the Trump administration. A U.S. Defense official also confirmed that. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment. Sources familiar with the operation said it was “coordinated down to the last detail with President Trump and his team” and assessed to be part of a larger campaign. President Trump, posting on his social media platform, wrote: “We are rapidly putting them out of business.”
Iran’s response was immediate and sweeping. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued formal evacuation warnings directed at energy installations across three neighboring states. Named as targets were Saudi Arabia’s Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the UAE’s Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar’s Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex and Ras Laffan Refinery.
“These centres have become direct and legitimate targets and will be targeted in the coming hours,” Iranian state media reported.
Oil and European natural gas prices surged on news of the strike. Brent crude climbed as much as 6.1 percent to a high of $109.75 a barrel, while Europe’s gas benchmark jumped as much as 9.1 percent. The South Pars field supplies approximately 70 percent of Iran’s domestic natural gas and represents a foundational asset of the Iranian economy. Qatar, which shares the deposit across the Gulf under the name North Dome, is both a co-stakeholder in the field and a close American ally hosting the largest U.S. airbase in the region. Its Foreign Ministry called the strike “a dangerous and irresponsible step,” warning that targeting energy infrastructure “poses a threat to global energy security and to the peoples of the region.”
The attack on South Pars was not the only major escalation of the day. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, had been killed in an overnight airstrike — the second senior Iranian official eliminated in two days, following the killing of national security chief Ali Larijani on Tuesday.
“No one in Iran has immunity and everyone is in the crosshairs,” Katz said, announcing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorized the military to strike any senior Iranian official without requiring additional political approval for individual missions. Iran did not immediately confirm Khatib’s death.
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The open-ended targeting authorization appeared to represent a formal policy shift. It is the first publicly stated instance of Israel explicitly delegating lethal targeting authority for enemy officials to the military without requiring case-by-case political clearance.
In Lebanon, Israel struck multiple apartment buildings in central Beirut, killing at least 10 people according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. One building in the Bachoura district was flattened after residents received an evacuation notice. Israel’s military said the structure had been used by Hezbollah to store funds, without providing evidence. No warnings were issued before strikes on buildings in two other central districts. A journalist with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television was among those killed in Beirut.
Iranian attacks struck Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE on Wednesday. A projectile caused a small fire at an Australian military base at Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai, though no injuries were reported. Missile alerts sounded in Dubai as interceptors fired overhead.
Read Also: Top Iran Security Chief, Ali Larijani Eliminated By Israeli Strike
The war’s cumulative death toll has exceeded 4,000, with more than three-quarters of fatalities recorded in Iran. Lebanese authorities report more than 900 killed and 800,000 displaced. The United States has lost 13 military personnel. Fourteen people have been killed inside Israel.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively halted since the war began on February 28. Diesel prices in the United States rose above $5 a gallon this week for the first time since 2022. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that new arrangements governing passage through the strait would need to be negotiated, saying safe transit should take place “under specific conditions.”
An emergency meeting of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers convened in Riyadh on Wednesday to address the widening conflict. No joint statement had been issued at the time of publication, and no framework for de-escalation has been publicly proposed by any party to the war.
