DUBAI: Iran hit a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and set Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze, sending international oil and gas prices soaring Thursday.
The strikes followed an Israeli attack on Iran's South Pars natural gas field the previous day.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to as high as USD 118 a barrel, up more than 60 per cent since Israel and the United States started the war February 28 with strikes on Iran.
A ship was set ablaze off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another was damaged off Qatar.
Qatar, a key source of natural gas for world markets, said firefighters put out a blaze at a major LNG facility after it was hit by Iranian missiles. Production had already been halted there after earlier attacks but it said the latest wave of missiles caused “sizable fires and extensive further damage.”
Iran has been striking its Persian Gulf neighbours' energy facilities since the war started February 28 and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which one-fifth of the world's oil travels, nearly impassable. Iran and Hezbollah also have been firing drones and missiles at Israel.
Energy firm Shell PLC says it is assessing the damage after Iran launched attacks on Qatar.
Shell said it was looking at the damage at the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant at the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility after it was hit by Iranian missiles. It said all staff on site are safe after the attack.
“We are currently assessing any potential damage to Pearl GTL and working with Qatar Energy and the relevant authorities to understand the damage to the wider Ras Laffan Industrial City facilities,” it said.
Emmanuel Macron has also called for a truce as the Middle East enters a religious holiday at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “The fighting should stop for a few days to try to give negotiations another chance,” Macron said in Brussels ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders.
He said France is pushing for a moratorium on attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is underlining his insistence that the war must end before his country can help with matters such as keeping shipping lanes clear.
Merz said Thursday that “we can and will commit ourselves only when the weapons fall silent.” He added that “we can then do a great deal, as far as opening sea lanes and keeping them clear, but we're not doing it during ongoing combat operations.”
He said an international mandate that doesn't yet exist also would be needed, and “there are still many steps ahead of us before we can even consider such an issue.”
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned what he described as a “flagrant” Iranian attack on a major gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
He also condemned Iran's attacks on Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, and warned against the “dangerous escalation” caused by targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf, according to a statement released early Thursday.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called Israel's attack Wednesday on Iran's South Pars natural gas field “incomprehensible.”
“This move has been totally damaging the markets,” Babis said. “The price of gas is exploding and the price of oil as well.”
The Czech Republic is one of Israel's biggest allies within the European Union.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has called for Iran to end attacks in the region.
During a meeting of foreign ministers Thursday, Abdelatty and his regional and Arab counterparts expressed solidarity with countries impacted by Iran's “threats.”
They condemned Iranian attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Gulf nations, calling them “unjustifiable violations” that immediately need to stop.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Europe will not be “blackmailed” into the US and Israeli military campaign in the Middle East.
“Europe, and Austria as well, will not allow itself to be blackmailed,” he said Thursday in Brussels. “Intervention in the Strait of Hormuz is not an option for Austria anyway.”
Stocker called for the stabilisation of the supply and prices of energy following the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
China says it is shocked at reports that Israel authorised the killing of senior Iranian and Hezbollah figures without case-by-case approval, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday in Beijing.
“We have been opposed to the use of force in international relations, and the killing of Iran's national leaders and attacks on civilian targets are even more unacceptable,” spokesperson Lin Jian said.
China urges all parties involved to immediately cease military operations and prevent the regional conflict from spiraling out of control, he said.
Cathay Pacific says it is further suspending its flights to Dubai and the Saudi capital Riyadh until the end of April.
The Hong Kong-based airline attributed the suspensions to “the developing situation in the Middle East.”
It is one of several long-haul carriers outside the Middle East that have temporarily stopped serving the region due to the conflict.
Iran's foreign minister lashed out Thursday at French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments on Tehran attacking Qatar.
Macron early Thursday morning wrote he spoke with US President Donald Trump and Qatar's emir over Iran's attack.
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities,” Macron wrote on X.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, channeling Trump, called Macron's comments “sad!”
“Macron has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” Araghchi wrote on X. “He did not condemn Israel when it blew up fuel storage in Tehran, exposing millions to toxins. His current “concern” didn't follow Israel's attack on our gas facilities.”
Satellite images show damage at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates after repeated Iranian attacks targeting the facility hosting American troops.
The images, taken Sunday by an Airbus Defence and Space's Pléiades Neo satellite and analysed by The Associated Press, show damage at one set of hangars to the northwest of the facility in Abu Dhabi.
Another hangar to the southeast of the facility appears shredded by fire, with an adjacent hangar sustaining roof damage.
It's unclear what had been in the hangars.
Al Dhafra had hosted some 2,000 US troops and has served as a major base of operations for everything from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters in recent years.
The US military for years only vaguely referred to Al Dhafra as a base in “southwest Asia” before the UAE became more willing to acknowledge the US presence there.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Iran's reckless' reprisal attacks in the Middle East.
“I'm deeply concerned by attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, including the latest overnight in Qatar,” Albanese told reporters in Hobart on Thursday. “We do not want to see the conflicts escalate further.”
A summit of Gulf Arab countries and others ended a meeting Thursday with a renewed, unified call for Iran to halt attacks on its neighbours.
A statement by the nations at the summit denounced “these deliberate Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, which targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic missions.”
“The participants emphasised that these attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way,” the statement said.
The nations represented at the summit were Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.