Airstrikes hit a major energy facility in Qatar after Tehran vowed retaliation for an earlier strike on infrastructure of the vast South Pars offshore gas field, Iran’s biggest source of natural gas.

 

Iran War Live Updates: Oil Prices Spike as Gulf Energy Sites Are Struck

Airstrikes hit a major energy facility in Qatar after Tehran vowed retaliation for an earlier strike on infrastructure of the vast South Pars offshore gas field, Iran’s biggest source of natural gas.

 

Abdi Latif Dahir Christina Goldbaum and Rebecca Elliott

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/18/world/iran-war-news-trump-oil

 

Here’s the latest.

Drone and missile attacks targeted major energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, hours after Iran vowed retaliation for the largest set of strikes on its energy production in nearly three weeks of war, stoking fears of a worsening global fuel crunch and the resulting rising prices.

 

Earlier in the day, airstrikes hit the infrastructure of Iran’s vast South Pars offshore gas field, its biggest source of natural gas, which could worsen the country’s already severe domestic energy shortages. Iraq, which normally gets one-third of its natural gas from Iran, said that flow had been completely cut off, knocking out a large part of Iraq’s electric power supply.

 

In the evening, Qatar’s state-owned energy company said missiles did “extensive damage” to a major energy hub; one of the world’s biggest producers, Qatar has all but halted natural gas exports as Iran effectively blockades shipping traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf.

 

Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a drone approaching one of its gas plants, and loud explosions rocked the capital, Riyadh, as its air defenses shot down what it described as waves of incoming missiles.

 

The government of Qatar said the attack came from Iran, which has aimed missiles and drones at its neighbors since the war began, in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing, trying to exert international pressure on them to by inflicting economic pain abroad.

 

“The Iranian side continues its escalatory policies that are pushing the region toward the brink and drawing countries not party to this crisis into the conflict zone,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

 

In Washington, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that even though the Iranian leadership has been “largely degraded” by U.S. and Israeli attacks, the government still “appears to be intact.”

 

Ms. Gabbard and John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, also undermined President Trump’s statements that he went to war because Iran would soon have missiles capable of reaching the United States. Iran could “begin to develop” an intercontinental ballistic missile “before 2035, should Tehran attempt to pursue that capability,” Ms. Gabbard said.

 

Oil and natural gas prices spiked following reports of the South Pars strikes, which hit petrochemical facilities in the southern city of Asaluyeh, Iran said. Those facilities process gas from the South Pars field, which lies under the Persian Gulf. The benchmark crude oil settled at more than $107 on Wednesday afternoon, but later pushed above $110 in international trading.

 

Here’s what else we are covering:

Pentagon: The Pentagon did not comment on the strike on the South Pars gas field. While the Pentagon has held a handful of news conferences, military officials overall have provided few details about specific targets in Iran or Iranian strikes on American facilities. U.S. officials have periodically issued statements that offer an accounting of how many airstrikes U.S. Central Command has carried out.

 

Intelligence chief killed: An Israeli airstrike on Wednesday killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, continuing Israel’s systematic targeting of high-ranking officials that has decimated the upper ranks of the government in Tehran. The Israeli military said in a statement that Mr. Khatib’s ministry had overseen espionage and covert operations against Iranians as well as Israeli and American targets across the world.

 

Iranian strikes: In retaliation for the killings of Mr. Larijani and the commander of Iran’s powerful Basij militia, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Wednesday that it had struck Israel. Two people were killed by missile fire in Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv, and at least one person was injured by shrapnel, Israel’s emergency service said. Later Central Israel came under fire, and at least one missile appeared to get through air defenses, authorities said.

 

Death toll: It remains unclear precisely how many people have been killed in Iran. A week ago, Iran’s U.N. representative told the Security Council that at least 1,348 civilians had been killed since the start of the war on Feb. 28. It’s unclear if that number excludes any government and military officials.

 

Lebanon: In Lebanon, health officials said that 968 people have been killed. In Israel, at least 14 people have been killed, the authorities said. The Pentagon says that 13 American service members have died since the start of the war.