Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
Iranian attacks on Qatari and UAE oil facilities have raised concerns even after both countries condemned Israeli strikes on Iran gas field Pars the part of which is shared by Qatar as well while US President Donald Trump said Washington had no prior knowledge of Israel’s strike on South Pars. All this has made the situation extremely complicated as why Iran hit Qatar and warned UAE, KSA on energy facilities in retaliation to Israeli strike of Pars and Trump’s statement tells the strike was not from US assets in Qatar & UAE. Iran’s stance on hitting the US assets in Arab states is about Military assets.
“The United States knew nothing about this particular attack,” he said. Qatar “was in no way, shape, or form involved”, President Trump added.
He also said Israel would not carry out further strikes on the field, but warned that if Iran continued to attack energy infrastructure in the region, he would order the US military to respond.
Part of Iran’s South Pars and Asaluyeh energy assets were struck by Israel in an attack on Wednesday that the UAE called a “dangerous escalation”.
Qatar, which shares the giant South Pars gasfield with Iran, also condemned the attack and warned of broader risks to regional stability and global energy supply.
QATAR
Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the attack “dangerous and irresponsible”.
“The Israeli targeting of facilities linked to Iran’s South Pars field, an extension of Qatar’s North Field, is a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region,” he said.
Mr Al Ansari said the attacks threatened the people of the region and global energy security.
“We reiterate, as we have repeatedly emphasised, the necessity of avoiding the targeting of vital facilities,” he added, asking all parties to adhere to international law and de-escalate.
UAE
The UAE said attacking energy sites “constitutes a direct threat to global energy security, as well as to the security and stability of the region and its people”, state news agency Wam reported.
“It also entails serious environmental repercussions and exposes civilians, maritime security and vital civilian and industrial facilities to direct risks.”
But Iran attacked Ras Laffan of Qatar after Israeli strikes on South Pars and Asaluyeh energy infrastructure earlier on Wednesday.
The South Pars field, shared with Qatar, is the world’s largest gas reserve and underpins a significant share of global liquefied natural gas supply. QatarEnergy, Qatar’s state-owned oil company, 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.
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 exchange of strikes raises the risk of wider disruption to regional energy flows, including supplies from Iran to Iraq and Turkey, as well as potential knock-on effects for global markets.
“Iranian outages may affect flows to Turkey, tightening LNG markets. Escalation raises regional infrastructure risks,” said Laurent Ruseckas, an analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Mr Ruseckas said the strike would prompt a bullish stance for the global LNG benchmarks JKM and TTF, as Turkish buyers displaced by any Iranian supply shortfall would seek replacement LNG cargoes, tightening the market on the margin.
He added that while Iranian retaliation against Qatari LNG infrastructure remained unlikely given the risk of a devastating response, escalation brought greater uncertainty across the region.
Iranian gas flows to Iraq were halted after the attack, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters. Tehran supplies between 30 and 40 per cent of Iraq’s electricity and gas needs. Iran diverted its gas domestically after the strike, the official added.
Asaluyeh, a port city on the coast in Bushehr province, is the onshore processing centre for the South Pars gasfield and home to a dense cluster of petrochemical plants, refineries and export terminals. Details of the strike had not yet been determined, but any disruption in Asaluyeh would affect Iran’s ability to process and export hydrocarbons from the field.
QatarEnergy produces about 18.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas from North Dome, enabling the emirate to supply about a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas. Iran’s share of the field is more modest, constrained for decades by sanctions and underinvestment. Iran directs most of the gas it produces towards domestic use rather than export.
