Israel bombed facilities at the South Pars natural gas field in Iran. The world’s largest natural gas field is under the Persian Gulf and is split between Iran and Qatar.
On Wednesday, strikes hit facilities in Iran’s Bushehr province tied to the gas field. Following the attack, Israeli officials told Axios that the operation was conducted in coordination and with the approval of the White House.
A source speaking with the AP claimed that while Washington was aware Tel Aviv planned to strike the gas field, the US did not participate or give its approval.
According to Iranian media, the strikes sparked a fire that emergency crews are working to extinguish. The Iranian military said it would respond to the attack by striking energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.
“These centres have become direct and legitimate targets and will be targeted in the coming hours. Therefore, all citizens, residents, and employees are requested to immediately leave these areas and move to a safe distance without any delay,” Iran’s IRGC explained in a statement.
Tehran’s threat caused a spike in global oil prices, with Brent Crude up five percent.
While the White House has avoided targeting Iranian energy sites in previous operations, Israel bombed oil facilities near Tehran earlier this month. Axios reported that those strikes angered Washington.
The White House may have sought to avoid strikes on Iranian energy facilities because Tehran is likely to respond by attacking oil infrastructure in Gulf Arab countries allied with the US.
Following the attack, Baghdad announced a pause in gas flows from Iran to Iraq. Ahmed Moussa, the spokesman for Iraq’s Electricity Ministry, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “due to regional developments, Iranian gas supplies to Iraq completely halted an hour ago.” The spokesman added that this would result in a cut of about 3,100 megawatts of power, which he said would “certainly affect the grid.”
