Early Friday, Iran-launched drones struck Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery, sparking a fire as crews worked to contain the blaze. Mina Al-Ahmadi, one of Kuwait’s three refineries with roughly 730,000 barrels-per-day capacity, had already been hit in an Iranian attack the previous day.
The strikes came as air-raid sirens sounded across Jerusalem and northern Israel, warning residents to seek shelter, and as explosions were reported over Tehran when Israel said it had begun fresh strikes. The explosions occurred as Iranians observed Nowruz, the Persian New Year. There were no immediate, confirmed casualty reports from the early-morning alerts.
The uptick in Iranian attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure followed Israel’s reported bombing on Wednesday of Iran’s South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s military said its strikes on energy facilities marked “a new stage in the war,” and its spokesman, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, warned further attacks on Iran’s energy sector would be met with continued strikes on adversaries’ energy infrastructure.
Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a statement calling on the nation’s enemies to have their “security” taken away after the killing of Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib. Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei—who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28—and has not been seen publicly since his appointment; U.S. and Israeli officials have said he may have been injured in the conflict.
Beyond Kuwait and Iran, the violence spread across the Gulf. Heavy explosions rattled Dubai as air defenses intercepted incoming projectiles during Eid al-Fitr morning prayers. In Bahrain, shrapnel from an intercepted missile or drone ignited a warehouse. Saudi Arabia reported shooting down multiple drones targeting its Eastern Province and said the SAMREF refinery in Yanbu was hit, prompting Saudi oil shipments to be rerouted westward to the Red Sea.
Qatar reported significant damage to its Ras Laffan LNG facility from Iranian missiles, temporarily cutting exports by about 17% and inflicting what officials described as roughly $20 billion in annual lost revenue, with repairs potentially taking up to five years. Abu Dhabi gas operations and an additional Kuwaiti refinery were also reported hit amid the wider campaign.
Israel announced a new wave of strikes on Iran, even as former U.S. President Donald Trump had warned Israel against repeating attacks on Iranian natural gas infrastructure that escalated the U.S.-Israeli campaign. At a Thursday news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s air defenses had been degraded, its navy severely damaged and its air force largely neutralized, and he expressed hope the Iranian people would turn against the Islamic Republic—though there has been no sign of organized internal opposition since the conflict began.
Israel also said it struck sites in Syria it blamed for attacks on the Druze community in Sweida, targeting what it described as a “commander centre” and weapons depots. Syrian state media had not immediately acknowledged those strikes; this was the first reported Israeli strike on Syrian territory since the broader U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran began.
The United Arab Emirates said it disrupted a network it called “funded and operated by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran,” arresting five men accused of laundering money under a fictitious commercial cover and threatening the country’s financial stability.
International concern over the potential for a global energy shock grew as Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement offering readiness to help ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and to take other steps to stabilize energy markets, including coordinating with producers to increase output. The U.N. Security Council held an urgent closed meeting at the request of Gulf states as regional leaders urged Iran to cease attacks on their territories.
The situation remains fluid, with widespread damage to regional energy infrastructure, repeated missile and drone salvos, and large numbers of civilians seeking shelter across Israel and neighboring areas. Officials and militaries in the region and beyond continue to monitor and respond to new strikes and counterstrikes.
