Israeli forces on the evening of March 18, 2026, attacked South Pars Gas Field in Iran: one of the most important sources of natural gas for Iran's domestic energy consumption, including home heating. Hours later, Iranian forces attacked oil and gas infrastructure at Qatar's Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which provides one-fifth of the world's LNG. QatarEnergy confirmed "extensive damage" to the facility. The company's CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that the repairs might take three to five years.
US President Donald Trump, in a statement posted by the White House on X on March 19, stated that if Iran were to attack Qatar again, the United States would "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before."
A spokesperson for the Iranian central command said on March 19 that Iranian forces' "response" to the attack on South Pars "had not yet ended," and that further attacks would prompt a "response … much more severe than the previous attacks" on US and Israeli allies' energy infrastructure.
The March 18 and 19 attacks have triggered another jump in the price of oil and natural gas, which, if sustained, will likely further raise prices in sectors such as food and transportation worldwide which are critical in population's access to human rights such as the right to food.
The following quote can be attributed to Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch:
"The tit-for-tat attacks by Iran, Israel, and the US on some of the world's largest oil and gas infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states risk causing economic and environmental catastrophe to civilians in Iran and across the Gulf, and countless economically marginalized people across the globe. Warring parties should immediately end any and all attacks targeting civilian energy infrastructure."
