Iran responded to the attack on the South Pars gasfield with a sweeping Gulf energy threat on Wednesday, with the Revolutionary Guards declaring full-scale economic war and naming specific facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar as imminent targets. Evacuation orders were issued and a tight timeframe set for the threatened strikes. Oil prices surged toward $110 a barrel as the declaration intensified fears of a catastrophic Gulf energy infrastructure war.
South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas reserve, is shared between Iran and Qatar. The Israeli attack on the field — reportedly with US backing — was the first direct strike on Iranian fossil fuel production in the conflict. Both countries had previously avoided this step, knowing that crossing this line would trigger the kind of sweeping and specific response Iran was now delivering. The response was the most detailed and threatening military declaration of the entire war.
Threatened facilities included Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail complex, the UAE’s al-Hosn gasfield, and Qatar’s Mesaieed and Ras Laffan installations. All workers and residents were ordered to leave immediately. Asaluyeh governor Eskandar Pasalar said the US-Israeli attack had been “political suicide” and that Iran was now in a total economic war — one it had not provoked but would prosecute to the fullest.
Brent crude climbed to $108.60 per barrel — a nearly 5% gain — while European gas markets surged more than 7.5% to over €55.50 per megawatt hour. Gulf oil exports had already been cut by 60% from pre-war levels due to infrastructure damage and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade. Iran had continued to export its own crude through the strait unimpeded while blocking Gulf neighbors’ exports, an imbalance that now threatened to be compounded by a new wave of devastating strikes.
Qatar’s government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari warned that targeting energy infrastructure threatened global energy security. The declaration of full-scale economic war by Iran signaled that the conflict had crossed a threshold from which retreat would be difficult. With specific targets named, evacuation orders issued, and oil prices surging, the Gulf was facing a moment of maximum danger — one with profound and lasting consequences for the global economy.