Iran war escalates, energy prices rise after Israeli strike on South Pars gas field

A senior Iranian official said Thursday that the American public can thank Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu “and his staff [the U.S.] Congress” on the rising costs to the US of the war launched against his country on Feb. 28.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shared a story from the Washington Post, which CBS News did not confirm, saying that the US Department of Defense will seek funding of 200 billion dollars for the war in Iran, and they called it “the tip of the iceberg.”

“There are only three weeks left in this war of choice, imposed on both the Iranian people and the American people,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in his communique. “This $200b is the main one. Ordinary Americans can thank Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff in Congress for the billions of ‘Israel First taxes’ we will cut into the US economy.”

So far the Trump administration has not said how much the war will cost the US, but last week, military officials told members of Congress at a briefing that the first week alone cost about $11.3 billion, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, asked about the estimated cost of the war, he told the reporters “I don’t think it can be counted yet,” as the works continued.

Saudi Arabia said a drone struck the country’s SAMREF on Thursday in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu. The Saudi Defense Ministry said damage assessments were ongoing, without elaborating.

The previous incident of the attack on the Mina Al-Ahmadi plane in Kuwait caused a fire but no one was injured, KUNA media reported on Thursday. The refinery is one of the largest in the Middle East, with a capacity to produce 730,000 barrels of oil per day. Soon after, a drone attack set fire to the nearby Mina Abdullah refinery, authorities said.

Abu Dhabi authorities said they were forced to shut down operations at its Habshan gas plant and the Bab site, calling the overnight Iranian attack on the sites a “dangerous escalation.”

Missile warning sirens went off in many other locations around the Gulf, and Israel warned of impending Iranian fire.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have all condemned the attack on Iran, with a senior Saudi official saying the attack on the regime means “what little trust there was before has completely disappeared.”

CBS/AP

Stock prices fell early Thursday as well oil prices increased dramatically as the US-Israel war against Iran escalated.

Wednesday’s Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar, and President Trump’s threat to destroy the vast area if Iran retaliates for an attack on Qatar’s infrastructure, hit markets hard.

Reuters news agency said US crude futures rose above $97 a barrel early Thursday, while natural gas rose 3% and Brent crude futures rose to $111.87 a barrel, up 4% on the day.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index fell more than 3%, South Korean shares fell 2.8% and European futures fell more than 1.5% before continental markets opened.

“This latest escalation feels like a turning point in the markets because the conflict is no longer just about military issues or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore, told Reuters. “Now it is hitting the pipelines of the electric power system all over the world. What is confusing the markets now is the increase in the risk of inflation… It means that this is no longer just a political issue but a big issue.”

Iran launched at least six waves of missiles at Israel overnight, including a new attack using cluster bombs.

Anti-aircraft guns intercepted most of the weapons, but debris and bombs from artillery shells fell in many places, including in Tel Aviv where an old man was slightly injured in a building, according to doctors.

One bomb struck the agricultural community of Adanim in central Israel, Sharon, killing a Thai farm worker, according to doctors, while another hit a house in Jaljulia, an Arab town also in central Israel, but no injuries were reported.

There were also direct clashes in the Palestinian town of Bayt Awwa, in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, which Palestinian media reports said caused casualties. There is no immediate confirmation of casualties there.

The UK military’s Maritime Trade Operations Center said early Thursday that it had received a report of a ship “hit by an unknown projectile” off the coast of Qatar’s oil industry, Ras Laffan.

The UKMTO did not identify the vessel or provide further details about what may have hit it, but said all crew members were reported to be safe and well.

Iran has attacked commercial shipping in the Gulf region for nearly three weeks in retaliation for ongoing US-Israeli strikes, paralyzing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route.

Few of these incidents have been reported this week, but following the Israeli strike on the Iranian South Pars gas field, the Tehran regime intensified its strikes in the Gulf states early Thursday.

QatarEnergy said that in addition to Wednesday’s Iranian missile attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City, which it said caused “major damage to the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility,” other facilities were targeted in the latest attack on Thursday morning local time.

QatarEnergy said the attack caused “massive fires and extensive damage” to several LNG facilities. No injuries were initially reported, QatarEnergy said.

President Trump said on Wednesday on Truth Social that Israel will not attack Iran’s Pars gas field again, but added a warning that if Iran continues to attack natural gas facilities in Qatar, the US will destroy the Iranian gas field.

Mr. Trump wrote that the United States “knew nothing” about Israel’s attack on the South Pars field and that Qatar had “nothing, shape, or form, to do with it.”

Mr. Trump said Iran then attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility “unreasonably and unjustifiably”.

The president announced that “NO MORE ATTACKS BY ISRAEL” on the South Pars field, “unless Iran decides unwisely to attack an innocent person, in this case, Qatar – This is when the United States of America, with or without the consent of Israel, will blow up the entire South Pars Gas Field before Iran sees the strength or strength before it sees the evidence of Iran.

Israeli officials have not commented on the South Pars strike or Mr. Trump about it.

A team of military planners from the United Kingdom is working with the US military to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, CBS News has learned.

A relatively small team at US Central Command – which oversees US military operations in the Middle East – is working on options to reopen the flow. A UK official told CBS News that this is a boost to UK planning staff already assigned to CENTCOM, which is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida.

This news was first reported by Radio Free Europe.

The UK and other US allies have been reluctant to join US military operations during the US and Israel’s active war against Iran, according to many diplomats.

After the de-escalation of the conflict, allies such as the UK and Japan may consider sending equipment such as mine detection equipment, according to several officials familiar with the ongoing talks.

The issue is likely to be raised on Thursday when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with President Trump at the White House. Takaichi has publicly stated that Japan’s constitution will not allow the use of its self-defense forces for offensive operations.