Firefighters battled a fire at a massive oil refinery in Kuwait on Friday following a new drone attack, as Iran continued its wave of strikes on its neighbors and insisted there was “no concern” about missile manufacture.
Despite European leaders’ calls to cease the targeting of Gulf energy infrastructure on Thursday, Kuwait reported a fire at its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, a day after a direct hit on Qatar’s crucial Ras Laffan complex.
Iranian authorities threatened to react after an Israeli strike on Wednesday destroyed the South Pars gas field, which taps into the world’s largest known gas reservoir and is critical for domestic supply.
The mounting damage to Gulf infrastructure has pushed up oil and gas prices again, raising concerns about long-term damage to global supply, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indication that an end to the war is near.
“We are winning and Iran is being decimated,” the Israeli premier said at a press conference on Thursday, claiming Tehran no longer had the capacity to manufacture ballistic missiles.
“This war is ending a lot faster than people think,” he added without providing a specific timeframe.
Despite an Israeli murder campaign and three weeks of bombardment, Iran’s leaders have pledged to resolve the fight on their terms.
“Our missile industry deserves a perfect score… and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Moments after the agency posted his statement, the Revolutionary Guards said that he had been murdered in US-Israeli strikes.
Iran maintains control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of world oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows.
Iranian state television claimed multiple waves of missiles fired into Israel overnight and Friday morning, with blasts heard above Jerusalem. There were no reported casualties.
The United Arab Emirates also claimed missile assaults, while Saudi Arabia intercepted more than a dozen drones early Friday as Gulf nations commemorated Eid al-Fitr, the conclusion of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
Energy analysts and consumers were scrambling to calculate the cost of Iranian rockets striking Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan natural gas facility on Thursday.
The attack caused “extensive damage” that Qatar’s state energy company estimated might cost $20 billion in lost revenue per year and take five years to fix.
This could lead to high energy prices that linger beyond the conflict, increasing inflation and reducing consumer expenditure.
“Short disruptions create price volatility. Sustained damage creates lasting economic shock,” Robert Pape, a political science and military expert at the University of Chicago, wrote on his Substack.
“This is how a regional war becomes an historic global economic crisis.”
He cautioned against further escalation, which may involve US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu ordering a limited ground invasion to defend the Strait of Hormuz.
Without going into detail, Netanyahu stated that overthrowing the leadership in Tehran would necessitate “a ground component”.
“There are many possibilities for this ground component and I take the liberty of not sharing (those) with you,” he said.
Oil prices dipped on Friday as traders responded to Netanyahu’s statements about the war finishing “a lot faster than people think,” but they recovered following news of the Kuwait refinery fire.
Brent remains around $108 and West Texas Intermediate at $94.
The war, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, has soon expanded to Lebanon, where the Israeli military has conducted frequent bombardments in response to missile fire on Israel from Iran’s partner Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the capital Beirut and its southern suburbs, had topped 1,000.
During a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Thursday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed a call for a truce between Israel and Hezbollah and the opening of negotiations, which France’s president later said depended on Israel’s agreement to join.
Many in the region ended Ramadan on a bitter note, unsettled by the war and rising prices.
“There’s nothing to celebrate,” said Aziza Ahmad, who has cancelled her family’s normal plans for a festive meal and gifts for the children, her small Beirut apartment hosting several displaced relatives.
“Maybe it’s different for the rich, but the joy of Eid is missing here… We have no money, and the displaced people can’t even go back home,” she said.
Iranians celebrated the new year spring festival of Nowruz on Friday, as well as the last day of Ramadan, with official media announcing that Iran would begin the Eid holiday on Saturday.
Hoda, who lives in Saveh, south of Tehran, said she would “definitely gather with family” and even travel to the capital, which has experienced some of the war’s deadliest hits.
“We assume and hope that there will be no attacks on the first day of the new year,” she told an AFP reporter based outside Iran.
As fears rise over the conflict’s economic consequences, President Emmanuel Macron said France planned to discuss with permanent members of the UN Security Council about establishing a framework to ensure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz – but only after the combat had finished.
