Iran war escalates with retaliation attacks as crude oil price soars

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz promised “significant surprises” to come after Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, was killed in an overnight strike

US-Israeli strikes have hit Iranian facilities at a major gas reserve and as Iran targeted a major gas facility in Qatar with both sides escalating attacks.

It comes as Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz promised “significant surprises” after Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, was killed in an overnight strike. A day earlier, Israel killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani.

Iran retaliated Wednesday by unleashing missile strikes against Israel, where two people were killed near Tel Aviv. Iran also attacked Saudi Arabia’s vast Eastern Province, home to many of its oil fields, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The United States was reportedly informed about Israel’s plans to strike Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, but did not take part in it. The South Pars/North Dome mega-field supplies around 70% of Iran’s domestic natural gas and is the world’s largest known gas reserve.

Iran condemned the South Pars strike with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world.”

Iranian missiles then targeted a major natural gas facility in Qatar. QatarEnergy said on X that a missile hit its massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, sparking a fire that caused “extensive” damage before it was extinguished. The company had already halted production there because of Iranian attacks.

Stock prices in London closed in the red on Wednesday and the price of oil surged another 5% to over $108 a barrel on international markets. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is now up close to 50% since the start of the war.

British Defence Minister Al Carns has warned “we live in very dangerous times” with soaring threats from Russia and the Middle East stretching from the “high north” to Iran. The alarm follows more than two weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran, during which British troops have fought off drone and missile threats from Iran and its proxies.

Senior western officials have confirmed European militaries are increasingly concerned about the Strait and demands by America for countries such as the UK to become involved. A UK refusal to send ships to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz has caused huge tension from US President Donald Trump towards UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

It comes as US bombers are now unleashing massive ‘bunker buster’ high-penetration bombs on Iran, capable of smashing targets up to 100ft underground.