Tehran [Iran], March 19: Israel has bombed parts of Iran's gas industry in the Gulf, according to media reports on both sides of the war, leading Tehran to threaten that energy facilities in neighbouring Gulf countries were now a target.
Petrochemical plants near the industrial city of Asaluyeh were hit by the latest attacks, the Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Mehr reported on Wednesday. The Times of Israel newspaper cited government sources as saying that the air force had attacked Iranian gas production facilities in the south, including the largest such facility in the province of Bushehr.
South Pars, the largest gas field in the world, which Iran shares with Qatar, is located near Asaluyeh in Bushehr province. The region is central to Iran's energy sector and accounts for around 70% of the country's domestic gas supply.
Several gas extraction industrial sites had been hit, Tasnim reported, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr province. The authorities warned the population not to approach the locations that had been attacked.
Iran's military leadership threatened to retaliate, in a statement carried by the Fars news agency. The time of limited battles is over, the statement said, with the conflict moving in the direction of a "comprehensive economic war." The Iranian state broadcaster cited gas fields and refineries in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as possible targets for a retaliatory attack. "These facilities have become direct and legitimate targets and will be attacked in the coming hours," it said, quoting a statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday following the attacks on Iran's gas facilities.
In the afternoon, Brent crude oil cost $108.25 dollars, about 4.5% more than the previous day.
Israel announces killing of intelligence chief
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib was killed in a targeted attack during the night, Israel said on Wednesday, in what is the latest deadly blow to the Iranian leadership since the war began two and a half weeks ago.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Khatib was responsible for repression within his own country as well as "external threats," according to his office. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed Khatib's death in a post on X. "The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmaeil Khatib, Ali Larijani and Aziz Nasirzadeh, alongside some of their family members and accompanyimg team, has left us in deep mourning," he wrote. "I extend my condolences to the great people of Iran for the martyrdom of two Cabinet members, the secretary of the Shura, and the military and Basij commanders," he added.
Israel has already killed dozens of leading figures in Iran's power apparatus during the war, including supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Monday, the influential secretary general of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, was also targeted and killed. Larijani's son was fatally injured in the attack in Tehran.
Funeral for security chief Larijani
People gathered in the capital Tehran on Wednesday for a memorial ceremony for security chief Larijani. They were also mourning the loss of the commander of the paramilitary Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, as well as the crew of an Iranian warship that the US sank with a torpedo off Sri Lanka.
Deaths mount on both sides
At least seven people died in a US-Israeli attack in the west of Iran, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday. A further 56 people were injured, it said. The airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Dorud, according to the report, which cited the deputy governor of Lorestan province. In the southern city of Lar in Fars province, the Red Crescent humanitarian group said that an ambulance had been destroyed during the Israeli-US attacks.
Source: Qatar Tribune
