Iran’s energy declaration reached every corner of world markets on Wednesday after the Revolutionary Guards announced imminent strikes against Gulf energy facilities following an Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield. Specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar were named as targets and evacuation orders issued. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the declaration’s reach extended from Gulf trading rooms to European gas exchanges to Asian energy ministries.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli attack — reportedly with US backing — was the first time Iran’s fossil fuel production had been directly targeted. Washington and Tel Aviv had previously treated this as an implicit boundary, but crossing it triggered Iran’s most expansive and credible energy declaration of the war — one whose reach extended to every energy market in the world.
Iran’s state broadcaster named Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan facilities as targets. All workers and residents were told to leave immediately. Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar called the US-Israeli attack “political suicide” and declared the conflict had entered a full-scale economic war.
Brent crude rose nearly 5% to $108.60 per barrel, while European gas benchmarks surged more than 7.5% to over €55.50 per megawatt hour. Gulf oil exports had already fallen 60% from pre-war levels due to sustained infrastructure attacks and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait unimpeded while blocking Gulf neighbors from doing so — a strategic advantage that had shaped the conflict’s economic character from the start.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that attacking energy infrastructure was a grave threat to global energy security, the environment, and millions of regional residents. The reach of Iran’s energy declaration extended from the Gulf to every economy on Earth that depended on stable energy prices and adequate supply. In a globalized world, there was no corner of the market — and no country — that could insulate itself from the consequences of what Iran was threatening.