•Smoke billowing from a Saudi oil refinery at the Ras Tanura oil production plant, near Dammam in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province, after an attack, today
Qatar shot down two Iranian fighter jets and halted LNG production over Iran’s latest strikes, sending prices soaring, as the Gulf crisis escalated sharply today.
Qatar’s air force downed two Sukhoi SU24 bombers, the defence ministry said — the first such action by a Gulf country after three days of Iranian bombardment.
The wealthy region of staunch US allies has found itself in the firing line of Iran’s retaliatory attacks, with airports and hotels hit along with military sites, reports AFP.
Six people have been killed and dozens injured.
“Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully shot down two (SU24) aircraft coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the defence ministry said, without mentioning the jets’ crew.
The Gulf militaries have so far focused on intercepting the hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran after US-Israeli strikes killed its supreme leader.
But as attacks widened to energy facilities, QatarEnergy, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, suspended production over drone strikes on two of its sites.
European natural gas prices leapt more than 50 percent, while oil surged nearly nine percent on fears of disruption to supplies.
‘Full alert’
Meanwhile, a source close to the Saudi government warned that a “concerted” Iranian attack on oil facilities could trigger a military response.
The warning followed a drone strike at Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery — one of the region’s biggest — which forced it to halt some operations.
“It depends if this is seen as a direct attack on Aramco by the Iranian leadership or a rogue drone,” the source told our correspondent, referring to the state oil giant.
Saudi Arabia would target “Iranian oil facilities if Iran mounts a concerted attack on Aramco”, the source added.
In a further sign of rising Gulf anger, a separate source told AFP that the Saudi army had raised its readiness level to “full alert”.
Iran’s unprecedented bombardment has rattled a region long seen as an oasis of stability in the turbulent Middle East.
Blasts echoed across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama on Monday. Security analyst Anna Jacobs called the war a “nightmare scenario” for the wealthy Gulf.
“These sorts of attacks just completely obliterate the image of these countries as a safe haven,” she told AFP.
Friendly fire
Earlier today, smoke poured out of Kuwait City’s US embassy, an AFP correspondent saw. The embassy did not say it had been hit, but warned people to stay away.
Three F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences in a friendly-fire incident late on Sunday, the US Central Command said.
The crews parachuted to safety.
Shrapnel fell at Mina Al Ahmadi refinery, one of Kuwait’s biggest, injuring two workers, but did not disrupt production, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said.
In northern Kuwait, smoke billowed over a power station, three witnesses told our correspondent.
An energy ministry spokeswoman said a fuel container was hit by shrapnel after a drone interception.
Kuwait was hard-hit today with 19 people injured, the health ministry said. The small, oil-rich country has a large US military presence.
Bahrain suffered its first death when debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a ship in the port city of Salman, killing one Asian worker and seriously injuring two others, the interior ministry said.
Italy said it was helping evacuate hundreds of citizens from the majority-expat United Arab Emirates, which halted flights on Saturday.
However, limited flights resumed from Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, and Abu Dhabi on Monday. Thousands of tourists remain stranded in the country.
Despite days of attacks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Iran had “no hostility” towards the Gulf countries, in a call with his Chinese counterpart.
