Part of Iran's South Pars and Asaluyeh energy assets were struck by Israel in an attack on Wednesday that the UAE called a “dangerous escalation”.
Qatar, which shares the giant South Pars gasfield with Iran, also condemned the attack and warned of broader risks to regional stability and global energy supply.
The UAE said attacking energy sites “constitutes a direct threat to global energy security, as well as to the security and stability of the region and its people”, state news agency Wam reported.
“It also entails serious environmental repercussions and exposes civilians, maritime security and vital civilian and industrial facilities to direct risks.”
Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the attack “dangerous and irresponsible”.
“The Israeli targeting of facilities linked to Iran’s South Pars field, an extension of Qatar’s North Field, is a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region,” he said.
Mr Al Ansari said the attacks threatened the people of the region and global energy security.
“We reiterate, as we have repeatedly emphasised, the necessity of avoiding the targeting of vital facilities,” he added, asking all parties to adhere to international law and de-escalate.
Iranian gas flows to Iraq were halted after the attack, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters. Tehran supplies between 30 and 40 per cent of Iraq's electricity and gas needs. Iran diverted its gas domestically after the strike, the official added.
Asaluyeh, a port city on the coast in Bushehr province, is the onshore processing centre for the South Pars gasfield and home to a dense cluster of petrochemical plants, refineries and export terminals. Details of the strike had not yet been determined, but any disruption in Asaluyeh would affect Iran's ability to process and export hydrocarbons from the field.
Qatar calls the South Pars field North Dome. It is the world’s largest gas reserve, with about 1,800 trillion cubic feet of usable gas.
QatarEnergy produces about 18.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas from North Dome, enabling the emirate to supply about a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas. Iran's share of the field is more modest, constrained for decades by sanctions and underinvestment. Iran directs most of the gas it produces towards domestic use rather than export.
Analysts warned that Wednesday's strike raises the risk of disruption to Iraq and Turkey, which receive gas from Iran.
“Iranian outages may affect flows to Turkey, tightening LNG markets. Escalation raises regional infrastructure risks,” said Laurent Ruseckas, an analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Mr Ruseckas said the strike would prompt a bullish stance for the global LNG benchmarks JKM and TTF, as Turkish buyers displaced by any Iranian supply shortfall would seek replacement LNG cargoes, tightening the market on the margin.
He added that while Iranian retaliation against Qatari LNG infrastructure remained unlikely given the risk of a devastating response, escalation brought greater uncertainty across the region.
