March 19, New Delhi – Iran targeted energy facilities across the Gulf and threatened further attacks after a key gas field was hit.
This warning came after Israel’s killing of Iran’s intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib. Tehran stated that it would respond forcefully to any further strikes on its energy sector, particularly after the attack on its South Pars gas field.
Iran issued evacuation warnings for several energy facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, saying they could be targeted by strikes in the coming hours.
The threat of further retaliation came after Qatar’s state energy company reported that a missile strike caused a fire and “extensive damage” at its main gas facility, Ras Laffan, the world’s largest LNG processing hub.
In response, Qatar declared the security and military attache at Iran’s embassy “persona non grata,” ordering them to leave the country within 24 hours.
Qatar also stated that the missile attack caused damage to its northern industrial hub, although four out of five ballistic missiles launched from Iran were successfully intercepted.