Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
QatarEnergy, Qatar’s state-owned oil company, has said that “extensive damage” was caused after the Ras Laffan Industrial City was subjected to missile attacks, shortly after the country’s interior ministry reported a fire resulting from an Iranian attack on the area.
“Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting fires,” the world’s second-largest LNG exporter said in a statement on Wednesday. No casualties were reported, and all personnel were accounted for, it said.
In a statement, Qatar condemned the attack, saying that it represented a “direct threat” to its national security. Iran insists on targeting Qatar and its neighbouring countries in an “irresponsible approach,” the Qatari foreign ministry added.
Qatar’s interior ministry earlier said that civil defence personnel were dealing with a fire in the Ras Laffan area after an Iranian attack.
The ministry said that the fire in Ras Laffan area was preliminarily brought under control, with no injuries reported.
Ras Laffan, located 80 km north of Doha, is an energy-industry hub and hosts several international companies.
Iran earlier issued an evacuation warning for several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, including the Ras Laffan Refinery, saying they would be targeted by strikes “in the coming hours,” Iranian state media reported.
Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG installations are being evacuated, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, following Iran’s threat to attack Gulf energy facilities.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warned members of the public to stay clear of oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the IRGC warned the Saudi, Emirati and Qatari citizens and residents to keep clear of the following locations:
1. Samref refinery in Saudi Arabia
2. Al Hosn gas field in the United Arab Emirates
3. Al-Jubail petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia
4. Mesaieed petrochemical complex and Mesaieed holding company (a subsidiary of Chevron) in Qatar
5. Ras Laffan refinery (phases 1 and 2) in Qatar
The IRGC said those locations have become “legitimate and prime targets” for counterattacks and will be struck within the next few hours. It warned all citizens, residents and personnel to evacuate those areas immediately and stay at a safe place in the distance.
The IRGC said it had already given clear and repeated warnings to the rulers of those three Arab countries against entering such hazardous path or gambling on the fate of their nations.
