War enters new phase as Israel attack on Iran gasfield sparks Gulf response 

Iran has ratcheted up the pressure on several Gulf nations by attacking their energy facilities in retaliation for am Israeli strike on its South Pars gasfield, as the war threatens to further ignite the entire region into an even more ominous phase, all-out conflagration.

The dangerous new developments in the war saw Iran hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility early on Thursday amid a broader campaign that also included attacks on energy infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, raising serious concerns about global energy supply.

The attacks amid the United States-Israel war on Iran, launched by the two countries on February 28, followed Israel’s killing of Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib and its strike on the South Pars LNG facility on Wednesday.

As Iran lashed out at its Gulf neighbours, which it has targeted relentlessly since the start of the conflict because of the presence of US facilities and assets on their soil, US President Donald Trump upped the ante further by threatening in a social media post to “massively blow up the entirety” of South Pars if Iran continued targeting Qatar.

“I do not want to authorise this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so,” said Trump.

At the same time, Trump tried to distance the US from Israel’s attack on South Pars, describing his strongest Middle East ally as having “violently lashed out” at the facility and promising that it would not occur again if Tehran refrains from attacking Qatar.

Trump said the US had “nothing to do” with the strike on the offshore gasfield facilities in Iran’s Bushehr province.

Qatar, the world’s second-largest LNG exporter, said on Thursday that the Iranian ballistic missile attack on its Ras Laffan gas complex caused three fires and extensive damage, with the Ministry of the Interior later reporting fires had been contained, with no injuries recorded.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Iran’s security and military attaches to leave the country within 24 hours and declared them “persona non grata”, condemning the attack on Ras Laffan as a “direct threat” to the country’s national security and accusing Iran of taking an “irresponsible approach”.

Separately, UAE authorities said they were responding to incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and at the Bab oilfield caused by falling debris from intercepted missiles. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said the facilities were shut down and no injuries were reported.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh on Wednesday and an attempted drone attack on a gas facility in its east. On Thursday, Iran targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain were also reported.

The question is now whether the Gulf countries will launch retaliatory attacks on Iran, a potential development that would open a new phase of the war.

Attending a meeting of foreign ministers from 12 Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh on Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said, “We reserve the right to take military actions, if deemed necessary”, warning Iran that pressure could “backfire politically and morally”.

On Thursday, he warned Iran that tolerance of its attacks on his country and those of neighbouring Gulf states is limited, calling on Tehran to immediately “recalculate” its strategy.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron, with the former’s office later saying the leaders deemed Iran’s attack “a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region and undermines the security of global energy supplies”.

Reporting from Dubai in the UAE, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said Iran’s attacks had “shattered any sense of diplomacy” among Gulf neighbours.

“Qatar’s government has said over and over again that no matter what happens, they will continue to press the idea of diplomacy, of dialogue as a way to resolve this and any other conflict,” he said. “But this is really testing their mettle.”

Political scientist Mehran Kamrava told Al Jazeera that Iran’s escalating attacks on Gulf countries had placed their governments “in a real bind diplomatically”.

“On the one hand, there’s this palpable desire to somehow respond to what is openly being called Iranian aggression,” said the professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar.

“On the other hand, the states are keenly aware that if they do enter the war with Iran, what is there to stop Donald Trump leaving tomorrow and declaring American victory – and then these states are left fighting a neighbour?” he said.

While Israel did not claim the South Pars gasfield attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz has promised more “surprises” as his country seeks to “decapitate” the leadership of Tehran’s government.

Among other developments on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported that a vessel had been hit by an “unknown projectile”, 4 nautical miles (about 7km) east of Ras Laffan in Qatar.