LEILA FADEL, HOST:
An exchange of fire across the Persian Gulf has exposed the danger to the world's energy supplies.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The market showed it too as oil prices spiked again. First, Israeli airstrikes hit an Iranian complex that is part of the world's largest natural gas reserve. Then Iran retaliated, blasting the world's largest liquefied natural gas plant in Qatar.
FADEL: How much farther could this go? To talk about that, we're joined by NPR's international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Good morning, Aya.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So, Aya, how did all this unfold?
BATRAWY: So Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says the Israelis attacked the South Pars gas field, and they called this a big mistake. And then they published a list of oil and gas sites in Saudi Arabia, the UAE where I am, and Qatar that it would target in response. And sure enough, last night, its missiles hit some of those targets, and that includes the Ras Laffan industrial site in Qatar. This is the world's largest liquefied natural gas complex, and it is Qatar's crown jewel. I mean, this is the wealth of this tiny nation, and it burned last night. Many countries have investments in this complex, yeah, totaling tens of billions of dollars. QatarEnergy says the damage was extensive. Now, Qatar says Iranian missiles also struck other gas facilities in the country last night. And, Leila, this is far bigger than the scale of tit-for-tat attacks on energy that we've seen over the past 2 1/2 weeks of this war, which had already halted Qatar's gas production and disrupted oil exports from the Gulf. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says the attack on its gas field marked a new stage of the war, and even Arab Gulf states said Israel's attack risked global energy security, and they called it a dangerous escalation.
FADEL: It's interesting 'cause President Trump is distancing the White House from this Israeli attack, which Israel has not yet commented on publicly. In a post on social media, he said the U.S. knew nothing about it. What else did he have to say?
BATRAWY: Right. He said Israel, out of anger, had violently lashed out at this major gas facility. But he said there would be no more attacks made by Israel on what he called this extremely important and valuable gas field in Iran. But Trump also said that if Iran continues attacking Qatar, the U.S. will not hesitate to, quote, "blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field." But, Leila, this is an underwater gas field Iran shares with Qatar, and a U.S. attack like that would threaten global supplies. But for its part, anyway, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said if an attack like that happens again on it, it will strike energy infrastructure in the region until it is completely destroyed. And anyways, the attacks last night, they set back Qatar's ability to resume gas production after the war. You know, countries like China and India rely on this gas, and it is already disrupting the production of fertilizer and polymers needed to make plastics. And so through these counterattacks, what Iran is doing is it is inflicting pain on countries around the world, and this could lead to pressure to end this war.
FADEL: Now, huge consequences to these attacks that we saw. Gulf Arab states have not responded militarily to Iran's attacks since the start of the war. Is that about to change?
BATRAWY: I mean, so far, what we saw Qatar do was expel the Iranian embassy military attaches, but they haven't cut ties with Iran. It did have warm ties with Iran before the war. Qatar was also a mediator between the U.S. and Iran before the war. I want you to have a listen to Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari. He was speaking to reporters last week about the need to contain this war.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MAJED AL-ANSARI: Right now, as we speak, you can put a map of the region in front of you, and you will not be able to find a finger-pointing space where escalation's not happening. This is exactly what we have said from Day 1. This is the biggest I told you so in the history of I told you sos in the world.
BATRAWY: And by Day 1, he's talking about Israel's response to the Hamas attack of 2023 and the devastating Israeli war on Gaza that has spilled over across the region. And so while he's calling for containment of the war, there might be other Arab states that are pushing for further degradation of Iran's military and missiles. But last night, Qatar's prime minister was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with other foreign ministers from across the region, including Turkey, and they were discussing the war and Iran's growing isolation. And as they were meeting in Riyadh, there were big explosions on the outskirts of the city. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it struck an oil and gas site being used to fuel U.S. fighter jets.
FADEL: That's NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thank you for your reporting, Aya.
BATRAWY: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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