\n<\/p>\n
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — <\/span>Iran intensified its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors’ energy sites Thursday, hitting a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and setting Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze as it struck back following an Israeli attack on its main natural gas field, a major escalation in the Mideast war<\/a> that has sent global fuel prices soaring. <\/p>\n Brent crude oil<\/a>, the international standard, spiked to as high as $118 a barrel, up more than 60% since Israel and the United States started the war Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran. <\/p>\n A ship was set ablaze off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another was damaged off Qatar, underscoring the ever-present danger also facing vessels due to Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia had begun pumping large volumes of oil west to avoid the strait and ship it from the Red Sea, but the security of that route was called into question after Iran’s drone hit the country\u2019s SAMREF refinery in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu. <\/p>\n 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 \u201csizable fires and extensive further damage.\u201d<\/p>\n Damage to the facility could delay Qatar in getting its supplies to the market even after the Iran war ends.<\/p>\n A drone attack on Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery sparked a fire but caused no injuries, the state-run KUNA news agency reported. The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 730,000 barrels per day. Shortly after, a drone attack set ablaze the nearby Mina Abdullah refinery, officials said. <\/p>\n Authorities in Abu Dhabi said they were forced to shut down operations at its Habshan gas facility and Bab field, calling Iranian overnight attacks on the sites a \u201cdangerous escalation.\u201d <\/p>\n Missile alert sirens sounded in multiple other areas around the Gulf, and Israel warned of incoming Iranian fire multiple times. <\/p>\n Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all denounced the Iranian attacks, with Saudi Arabia\u2019s top diplomat saying assaults on the kingdom meant \u201cwhat little trust there was before has completely been shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called the attacks a \u201cdangerous escalation\u201d by Iran. <\/p>\n But Iran showed no signs of relenting, with Saudi Arabia intercepting six drones in Riyadh and Eastern province before saying that the SAMREF refinery was hit. The Saudi Defense Ministry said damage assessment was underway at SAMREF, a joint venture between the kingdom\u2019s oil giant Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n In Israel, more than a half dozen waves of Iranian attacks targeting large parts of the country sent millions of people to shelters. The strikes caused damage to buildings but no significant casualties were reported. <\/p>\n The Iranian attacks came after Israel hit South Pars, the Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field located offshore in the Persian Gulf and owned jointly with Qatar. <\/p>\n With some 80% of all power generated in Iran coming from natural gas, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the attack directly threatens the country’s electricity supplies. Natural gas is also used to supply household heating and cooking across the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n Hitting the gas field is a \u201cclear expansion of the conflict,\u201d the New York-based Soufan Center said in a research note. <\/p>\n \u201cIsrael\u2019s target selection in this war has heavily focused on the institutions, leaders and infrastructure,” the think tank said. “It now seeks to inflict additional pressure on the regime by making the living conditions for civilians intolerable.\u201d <\/p>\n Iran condemned the strike on South Pars<\/a>, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of \u201cuncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world.\u201d <\/p>\n In Washington, President Donald Trump said that Israel would not attack South Pars again, but warned on social media that if Iran continued striking Qatar\u2019s energy infrastructure, the U.S. would retaliate and \u201cmassively blow up the entirety\u201d of the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran,\u201d Trump said on social media.<\/p>\n Qatar Energy said on X that a missile hit on its massive Ras Laffan LNG facility caused the blaze early Thursday.<\/p>\n A ship was also hit off the country’s coast, according to the British military\u2019s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. It was not clear whether it was deliberately targeted or was struck by falling debris as Qatar fired off missile interceptors at incoming Iranian barrages. <\/p>\n Saudi Arabia also reported downing Iranian drones targeting its natural gas facilities overnight, and authorities in Abu Dhabi shut down the Habshan gas facility and Bab field after interceptions over the sites.<\/p>\n Another ship was set ablaze early Thursday off the UAE coast. It was also unclear whether it was targeted or hit with debris, the UKMTO said. It said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan, near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is normally shipped. <\/p>\n