Tehran launches intense strikes in the Gulf; Qatar’s gas production has been severely damaged; American F-35 damaged by Iranian fire
U.S. Sailors watch as an F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 31, approaches the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford. Photo: AFP
DOHA/WASHINGTON:
Iranian attacks on the world’s largest LNG plant in Qatar and refineries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait sent shockwaves through energy markets on Thursday as the United States said there was no deadline to end the war in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said he had asked Israel not to repeat its attacks on Iran’s natural gas infrastructure.
Separately, an American F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East after being hit by what appears to be Iranian fire, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said the fifth-generation stealth jet was “conducting a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing. Hawkins said the plane landed safely and the incident remains under investigation.
“The plane landed safely and the pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins added. “This incident remains under investigation.”
It would be the first time Iran has struck a US plane since the war began in late February. Both the United States and Israel use F-35s in the conflict; the plane costs more than $100 million.
Facing growing fears about the economic damage caused by the war, US President Donald Trump said there would be no repeat of the Israeli attack on Iran’s key South Pars gas field, but he warned of a furious US response if Tehran did not end strikes on Qatar.
Iran responded that it would have “no restraint” if its energy infrastructure was hit again.
Oil markets have already been shaken by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
But Brent, the international benchmark, jumped 10 percent to $119 a barrel before falling back to $112, while European gas prices rose 35 percent after Iranian missiles struck Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex in retaliation for the Israeli strike on South Pars on Wednesday.
The nighttime attack on Ras Laffan, a repeated target since the war began on February 28, caused “significant damage,” QatarEngery said.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the attack was “clear evidence” that Iran was going beyond its commitment to only target US interests in the Gulf.
And the attacks attributed to Iran have spread.
A drone crashed into the Samref refinery in the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, the Saudi Defense Ministry said. The government reserved the “right to take military measures” in response.
In Kuwait, drone attacks sparked fires at the Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi refineries, which have a combined capacity of 800,000 barrels per day.
Even in Israel, media reported that an oil refinery in the port of Haifa was hit on Thursday, after the military warned of missiles launched by Iran.
Trump indicated he was unaware of the Israeli raid on South Pars, which meets about 70 percent of Iran’s domestic needs. But he said he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to exploit more gas fields in Iran.
“We get along very well. It’s coordinated, but occasionally he will do something” that the United States opposes, Trump said.
Trump had earlier warned that the United States would “blow up” South Pars if Tehran did not stop attacking Qatar. But he said Thursday that there were currently no plans to send troops to Iran.
Iran responded to the threats with defiance. The military operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya promised the “complete destruction” of the Gulf’s energy infrastructure if the Israeli attack was repeated, according to a statement published by the Fars news agency.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that there would be “no restraint” if Iranian infrastructure was hit again.
The world’s major economies are increasingly concerned about the consequences of the conflict.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands said they would “contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz” but gave few details.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “reckless escalation” of attacks and called for “direct talks between the Americans and the Iranians on this issue.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office warned that “attacks on critical infrastructure risk plunging the region further into crisis”, after talks with Macron and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
India and China have also expressed new concerns about their supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Fuel shortages have caused long queues at gas stations in Asia and rising costs around the world.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was no timetable for ending the war, but that “we are on the right track” and that Trump would choose when to end the fighting.
“Ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s choice to say, ‘Hey, we accomplished what we needed to,'” he said at a news conference in Washington.
Commentators said the energy attacks showed differences between the United States and Israel over war tactics.
“The conflict is drifting towards a war of attrition – with no clear signs of regime collapse in Iran,” Danny Citrinowicz, a senior fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, told X.
The attacks “underscored how unstructured this campaign has become – lacking strategic clarity, long-term planning and a defined end state.”
US media said the administration could ask Congress for more than $200 billion more to fund the war.
“I think that number could change. Obviously it takes money to kill the bad guys,” Hegseth commented.
(With additional input from News Desk)
