'A dangerous escalation': Israel strikes world's largest gasfield

Oil price rises as attack on Iran's energy sector prompts reprisal threats

- Lorenzo Tondo, William Christou

Israel struck Iran's giant South Pars gasfield yesterday, marking a major escalation of the war hours after Israeli forces killed the regime's intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.

The attack on the Pars site in the Gulf, which Iran shares with Qatar and constitutes the world's largest natural gas field, prompted Tehran to warn neighbouring states their energy infrastructure could be targeted "within hours" and triggered furious rebukes from Doha and other nations in the region.

Located off southern Bushehr province, it holds an estimated 1,800tn cubic feet (50tn cubic metres) of in-situ gas, accounting for roughly 70% of Iran's domestic supply and a vast portion of Qatar's exports.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, called the targeting of the field a "dangerous and irresponsible step".

In a rare rebuke, the UAE also condemned what it called a "dangerous escalation". "Targeting energy infrastructure poses a direct threat to global energy security ... It also entails serious environmental repercussions and exposes civilians, maritime security, and vital civilian and industrial facilities to direct risks," the UAE's foreign ministry said.

As the war intensifies, fresh evidence is raising questions over the purpose of the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran. A day after Joe Kent, the director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, resigned in protest, the US national intelligence director told Congress that Iran had made no attempt to rebuild its uranium enrichment programme since it was destroyed in the June 2025 strikes.

“As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme was obliterated. There have been no efforts since then to rebuild that capability,” Tulsi Gabbard said in testimony to the Senate.