Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued imminent threat warnings against major energy infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar on Wednesday. The evacuation orders follow an Israeli missile strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field, the largest natural gas reserve in the world, which Tehran shares with Doha.
The escalation triggered an immediate reaction across global commodities markets. The international Brent crude benchmark surged 5 percent to reach $108.60 a barrel, the highest level recorded since May 2022. European natural gas benchmarks concurrently climbed more than 7.5 percent, passing 55.50 euros per megawatt-hour.
Iranian state media broadcast directives for citizens and workers to immediately evacuate five specific multinational energy hubs. The designated targets include Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail petrochemical complex, the United Arab Emirates’ al-Hosn gas field, and Qatar’s Ras Laffan refinery and Mesaieed petrochemical complex.
The Israeli strikes mark the first direct targeting of Iranian downstream fossil fuel production since the broader military conflict began on February 28, 2026. Prior to Wednesday, both sides had largely avoided energy infrastructure to prevent severe economic fallout. Gulf daily oil exports had already fallen by at least 60 percent from prewar levels due to Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz and previous drone strikes on Iraqi and UAE facilities.
Eskandar Pasalar, the governor of Iran’s capital Assaluyeh, called the Israeli operation “political suicide” and stated the conflict has shifted into a “full-scale economic war.”
Qatari government spokesperson Majid al-Ansari condemned the Israeli attack on the shared South Pars field. He warned that targeting the infrastructure “constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region and its environment.”
The infrastructure strikes follow the recent Israeli assassination of Iranian intelligence minister Esmail Khatib and security chief Ali Larijani. Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, rejected diplomatic de-escalation proposals, stating hostilities will continue until the United States and Israel accept defeat.