Murray Wood: Hard to know how much confidence to have in the Sask. budget
After last year's Saskatchewan budget went from a tiny surplus to a major deficit, Murray Wood says it's difficult to sa...
Iran hit a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and set Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze, sending international oil and gas prices soaring Thursday.
The strikes followed an Israeli attack on South Pars, the Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field, the previous day.
Read more:
- Both sides in Iran war ratchet up attacks on energy facilities, as oil prices surge
- Canadian ships stuck in Persian Gulf as blockade of Strait of Hormuz continues
- VIDEO: No tax hikes or service cuts in Saskatchewan budget, despite $819M deficit
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Israel would not attack South Pars again, but warned on social media that if Iran continued striking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to as high as $118 a barrel, up more than 60% since Israel and the United States started the war Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran.
A ship was set ablaze off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another was damaged off Qatar.
Qatar, a key source of natural gas for world markets, said firefighters put out a blaze at a major LNG facility after it was hit by Iranian missiles. Production had already been halted there after earlier attacks but it said the latest wave of missiles caused “sizable fires and extensive further damage.”
Iran has been striking its Persian Gulf neighbors’ energy facilities since the war started Feb. 28 and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, nearly impassable. Iran and Hezbollah also have been firing drones and missiles at Israel.
Here is the latest:
Russia’s nuclear chief says “no one will escape radiation” if Iran’s nuclear reactor is hit
The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom on Thursday urged the U.S. and Israel to make sure they don’t hit Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant.
Alexei Likhachev warned that “not a single party to the conflict will escape the impact of radiation if there is a serious accident.” He had previously reported that a strike on Tuesday hit the territory of the plant near the building of metrology service close to the operating nuclear reactor, causing no injuries or damage.
Likhachev said that Rosatom had evacuated some of its personnel in Bushehr and is planning to pull out most of 480 people left there, leaving just a few dozen to operate the plant.
Shell says it is assessing damage in Qatar
Energy firm Shell PLC says it is assessing the damage after Iran launched attacks on Qatar.
Shell said it was looking at the damage at the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant at the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility after it was hit by Iranian missiles. It said all staff on site are safe after the attack.
“We are currently assessing any potential damage to Pearl GTL and working with Qatar Energy and the relevant authorities to understand the damage to the wider Ras Laffan Industrial City facilities,” it said.
French president condemns “reckless” escalation
Emmanuel Macron has also called for a truce as the Middle East enters a religious holiday at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “The fighting should stop for a few days to try to give negotiations another chance,” Macron said in Brussels ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders. He said France is pushing for a moratorium on attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
German leader says weapons must ‘fall silent’ before he would commit to any Mideast mission
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is underlining his insistence that the war must end before his country can help with matters such as keeping shipping lanes clear.
Merz said Thursday that “we can and will commit ourselves only when the weapons fall silent.” He added that “we can then do a great deal, as far as opening sea lanes and keeping them clear, but we’re not doing it during ongoing combat operations.”
He said an international mandate that doesn’t yet exist also would be needed, and “there are still many steps ahead of us before we can even consider such an issue.”
Four Palestinians killed in Gaza City
Two separate Israeli strikes have killed four Palestinians early Thursday in Gaza City, a health official in the Shifa medical complex told the AP.
The first strike killed two in the Zeitoun area and the second strike killed two others in the Tuffah area of Gaza City, said Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa hospital, where the casualties arrived.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Gaza Strip has seen near daily Israeli fire and strikes since the start of the latest war in the Middle East nearly three weeks ago. More than 72,200 Palestinians have been killed in the war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Arab League chief condemns Iranian attacks on gas facility in Qatar
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned what he described as a “flagrant” Iranian attack on a major gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
He also condemned Iran’s attacks on Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, and warned against the “dangerous escalation” caused by targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf, according to a statement released early Thursday.
The Arab League chief reiterated full support to Gulf nations in “all measures they undertake to confront these malicious Iranian attacks, and their right to safeguard the security of their citizens and the integrity of their facilities.”
Sirens sound in Jerusalem and other parts of central Israel
For the second time in an hour, Israel has warned of an incoming attack from Iran.
It is the eighth salvo of missiles launched on Israel so far on Thursday in one of the most intense days of Iranian fire on the country.
Czech prime minister calls Israeli attack on gas field ‘incomprehensible’
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called Israel’s attack Wednesday on Iran’s South Pars natural gas field “incomprehensible.”
“This move has been totally damaging the markets,” Babis said. “The price of gas is exploding and the price of oil as well.”
The Czech Republic is one of Israel’s biggest allies within the European Union.
Egypt foreign minister calls for Iran to halt attacks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has called for Iran to end attacks in the region.
During a meeting of foreign ministers Thursday, Abdelatty and his regional and Arab counterparts expressed solidarity with countries impacted by Iran’s “threats.”
They condemned Iranian attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Gulf nations, calling them “unjustifiable violations” that immediately need to stop.
Austrian chancellor says Europe will not be ‘blackmailed’ into fight
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Europe will not be “blackmailed” into the U.S. and Israeli military campaign in the Middle East.
“Europe, and Austria as well, will not allow itself to be blackmailed,” he said Thursday in Brussels. “Intervention in the Strait of Hormuz is not an option for Austria anyway.”
Stocker called for the stabilization of the supply and prices of energy following the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
China criticizes Israel over attack authorizations
China says it is shocked at reports that Israel authorized the killing of senior Iranian and Hezbollah figures without case-by-case approval, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday in Beijing.
“We have been opposed to the use of force in international relations, and the killing of Iran’s national leaders and attacks on civilian targets are even more unacceptable,” spokesperson Lin Jian said.
China urges all parties involved to immediately cease military operations and prevent the regional conflict from spiraling out of control, he said.
Cathay Pacific suspends Dubai and Riyadh flights through April
Cathay Pacific says it is further suspending its flights to Dubai and the Saudi capital Riyadh until the end of April.
The Hong Kong-based airline attributed the suspensions to “the developing situation in the Middle East.”
It is one of several long-haul carriers outside the Middle East that have temporarily stopped serving the region due to the conflict.
Saudi Arabia says drone hit the country’s SAMREF refinery
Saudi Arabia said a drone hit the country’s SAMREF refinery in the port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea on Thursday.
The Saudi Defense Ministry announced the news, saying without elaborating that “damage assessment in underway.”
The strike comes as drones also hit two oil refineries in Kuwait.
Overnight, Iranian attacks hit natural gas sites in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, spiking global prices.
Iran is retaliating over an Israeli strike Wednesday on its South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf that it shares with Qatar.
SAMREF is a joint venture between the kingdom’s oil giant Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil that processes more than 400,000 barrels per day of Arabian Light crude oil.
The attack on the Red Sea now reaches into Saudi Arabia’s assets there, where it has been trying to lift crude oil out to the global market via pipeline to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, which remains under Iranian attack.
Global oil and natural gas prices soar
Global oil and natural gas prices soared Wednesday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the world’s gas and two oil refineries in Kuwait.
The attacks raised fears that the global energy crisis trigged by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic would be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas productions.
International benchmark Brent crude rose to near $114 per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war.
The European TTF benchmark for natural gas prices traded 24% higher on Thursday.
Kuwait says a second oil refinery ablaze after drone attack
Kuwait said a drone attack set a second oil refinery ablaze in the small, oil-rich nation on Thursday.
The blaze hit the Mina Abdullah refinery.
The nearby Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery earlier caught fire after a drone attack.
Saudi air defenses destroy 6 drones
Saudi Arabia says its air defenses have intercepted and downed six drones in Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
Kuwait says drone attack targeting oil refinery sparked a fire
Kuwait said Thursday a drone attack sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the small, oil-rich nation.
The state-run KUNA news agency cited the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. for the announcement.
It said the drone attack sparked a fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery but caused no injuries.
The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 730,000 barrels per day.
Iran announces execution of 3 men detained in January protests
Iran’s judiciary announced Thursday the execution of three men detained in January’s nationwide protests, the first such sentences known to have been carried out.
Iran’s Mizan news agency reported the executions and identified the men as Mehdi Ghasemi, Saleh Mohammadi and Saeed Davvodi.
Iran typically carries out the death penalty with hangings.
The three men allegedly stabbed two police officers to death in Qom, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, during the protests.
Iran’s judiciary had been threatening to carry out executions of those arrested in the protests.
Iran put down the demonstrations with intense violence that killed thousands of people and saw tens of thousands others detained.
Activists have warned Iran could carry out a wave of mass executions of those detained in the protests.
Iran long has been accused by rights campaigners of extracting coerced confessions from detainees and not allowing them to fully defend themselves in court.
Iran’s foreign minister lashes out at Macron
Iran’s foreign minister lashed out Thursday at French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments on Tehran attacking Qatar.
Macron early Thursday morning wrote he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and Qatar’s emir over Iran’s attack.
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities,” Macron wrote on X.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, channeling Trump, called Macron’s comments “sad!”
“Macron has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” Araghchi wrote on X. “He did not condemn Israel when it blew up fuel storage in Tehran, exposing millions to toxins. His current “concern” didn’t follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities.”
Satellite images show damage to UAE air base
Satellite images show damage at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates after repeated Iranian attacks targeting the facility hosting American troops.
The images, taken Sunday by an Airbus Defence and Space’s Pléiades Neo satellite and analyzed by The Associated Press, show damage at one set of hangars to the northwest of the facility in Abu Dhabi.
Another hangar to the southeast of the facility appears shredded by fire, with an adjacent hangar sustaining roof damage.
It’s unclear what had been in the hangars.
Al Dhafra had hosted some 2,000 U.S. troops and has served as a major base of operations for everything from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters in recent years.
The U.S. military for years only vaguely referred to Al Dhafra as a base in “southwest Asia” before the UAE became more willing to acknowledge the U.S. presence there.
Ship hit by a projectile off coast of Qatar
A projectile hit a ship off the coast of Qatar on Thursday morning, authorities said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the incident off Ras Laffan, an important natural gas supply point which had been repeatedly hit by Iranian fire overnight.
The UKMTO said the ship’s crew was safe.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the vessel had been deliberately targeted or potentially struck by falling debris as Qatar fired off missile interceptors at incoming Iranian barrages.
South Pars gas crucial for Iran
Attacking Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, which it shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, threatens electricity supplies in the Islamic Republic.
Some 80% of all power generated in Iran comes from natural gas, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
It also is used to supply household heating and cooking across the Islamic Republic.
That is why Iran responded with an aggressive series of attacks targeting gas fields and infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Latest reports of live fire
Mobile phone alerts sounded Thursday morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, warning of incoming Iranian missile fire.
Kuwait said it shot down Iranian drones incoming to the oil-rich Mideast nation early Thursday morning.
Israel warned the public of another Iranian missile salvo early Thursday morning.
Bahrain sounded its missile sirens early Thursday over an incoming Iranian attack.
Trump threatens to blow up South Pars gas field if Iran attacks Qatar again
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Israel would make no more attacks on Iran’s major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again, the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.
Trump made his threat on social media Wednesday night as the war roiled global energy markets and Iranian missiles hit Qatar.
Trump said in his post that the U.S. “knew nothing” about the attack, but a person familiar with the matter said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. was informed about Israel’s plans to strike the gas field but did not take part.
Trump said Qatar “was in no way, shape, or form, involved” in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s gas field, but, “Unfortunately, Iran did not know this” and “unjustifiably and unfairly” attacked Qatar.
“I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran,” Trump said in his threat.
He added that he would “not hesitate to do so,” if Qatar’s liquified natural gas sites were attacked again.
Australia’s leader condemns ‘reckless’ Iran reprisals
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Iran’s ‘reckless’ reprisal attacks in the Middle East.
“I’m deeply concerned by attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, including the latest overnight in Qatar,” Albanese told reporters in Hobart on Thursday. “We do not want to see the conflicts escalate further.”
Qatar says Iran missiles damage more liquefied natural gas sites
Qatar warned Thursday that additional Iranian missile attacks damaged more liquefied natural gas sites in the energy-rich nation, “causing sizable fires and extensive further damage.”
Qatar Energy, the nation’s state-owned oil and gas company, announced the damage.
It said firefighters were working to halt the blazes and no one had been hurt so far.
Qatar is a key source of natural gas for the world’s energy markets.
It already shut in its production earlier in the war, but extensive damage could delay Qatar in getting its supplies to the market after the Iran war ends.
Arab summit ends with renewed call for Iran to end attacks
A summit of Gulf Arab countries and others ended a meeting Thursday with a renewed, unified call for Iran to halt attacks on its neighbors.
A statement by the nations at the summit denounced “these deliberate Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, which targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic missions.”
“The participants emphasized that these attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way,” the statement said.
The nations represented at the summit were Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Analyst group calls gas field attack ‘clear expansion’ of war
A New York-based think tank, the Soufan Center, described Israel’s decision to attack the Iranian offshore natural gas field as “a clear expansion of the conflict.”
“Unlike oil storage depots that can be replenished and rebuilt on a shorter timeline, liquefied natural gas production facilities cannot be as easily … repaired, especially against a backdrop of war,” the center said Thursday. “Extended timelines for repairs are a major blow to Iran’s economy, but above all else, they will be felt by Iranian civilians.
The center added, “Israel’s target selection in this war has heavily focused on the institutions, leaders and infrastructure within Iran that have been used for domestic repression, aiming to shape the conditions ripe for successful anti-regime mobilization by Iranians. It now seeks to inflict additional pressure on the regime by making the living conditions for civilians intolerable.”
Ship ablaze after attack off UAE
An attack set a ship ablaze early Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, authorities said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard.”
It said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas typically flows.
Over 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far as Tehran tries to squeeze shippers as part of its pressure campaign over the conflict.
US Senate vote on Iran war fails along familiar lines
U.S. Senate Democrats forced another vote on legislation that would have halted President Donald Trump from continuing the war with Iran without congressional approval, but the vote failed along familiar lines.
The vote breakdown was unchanged from last week on a similar war powers resolution.
Democrats forced this vote mostly to bring up another debate on the war and force the Senate for a couple hours officially off the topic of a GOP push to impose strict voter identification requirements.
Democrats are threatening to force more votes on the war unless Republicans agree to hold Cabinet-level hearings on the conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister harshly criticizes Iran after overnight attacks
“What little trust there was before has completely been shattered,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after a meeting between foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab states and others over the Iranian attacks tearing at the wider Middle East.
“The attacks on my country and on my neighboring countries that are not involved in this conflict — that’s all I’m interested in,” Prince Faisal said. “We’re going to use every lever we have — political, economic, diplomatic and otherwise — to get these attacks to stop.”
He criticized Iran’s attacks on Riyadh, the capital hosting the meeting.
“I cannot see it as coincidental,” he said. “That’s the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy. … It tries to pressure its neighbors, and that’s not going to work.”
UAE says Iran attacks targeting key gas sites are a ‘dangerous escalation’
The United Arab Emirates early Thursday denounced Iran’s attacks targeting its Habshan gas facility and Bab field as a “dangerous escalation.”
Authorities in Abu Dhabi say the gas operations had been shut down after interceptions over the sites.
Iran also had attacked gas facilities in Qatar after Israel launched an attack against Iran’s South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf that it shares with Doha, Qatar’s capital.
Saudi Arabia also reported downing Iranian drones targeting its natural gas facilities overnight.
