Iran War Enters 21st Day: Gulf Energy Infrastructure Decimated

The Iran War entered its 21st day Friday as Iran and Israel exchanged missiles and Gulf energy sites continued to suffer Iranian drone attacks.

Israel said Friday it had begun striking targets east of Tehran, expanding a campaign that the Israeli military said included more than 130 attacks across western and central Iran over the previous day. Israeli officials also said they killed the Basij Intelligence Division chief Esmail Ahmadi and other senior commanders in Tehran. Iranian state media reported that the IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini was killed in a separate Israeli strike.

Israel was hit with at least 19 separate waves of ballistic missiles Thursday evening.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said drone strikes hit the Al Ahmadi refinery and port, sparking a fire and forcing the shutdown of a significant part of the facility. Explosions were heard in Dubai early Friday; Dubai’s media office said the blasts were caused by missiles that were successfully intercepted.

Separately, QatarEnergy released a statement overnight indicating that the damage sustained from Iran’s retaliatory attacks—including at two separate LNG trains co-owned by Exxon—would cost about $20 billion a year in lost revenue and could take up to five years to repair.

The UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan said Thursday they were prepared to support efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, though they announced no immediate measures. Germany said any role would come only after hostilities end.

Gas prices continued to rise Friday, with AAA reporting the national average gas price at $3.91. 

The U.S. on Thursday fast-tracked more than $16.5 billion in arms sales to the UAE, Kuwait, and Jordan, using emergency waivers to bypass Congress. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Pentagon will request $200 billion from congress for the war.

Asked Thursday by CNN whether or not Israel could continue the war without the U.S., Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to answer, telling the CNN journalist that they had “exhausted their questions.”

Netanyahu told reporters Thursday that he wants oil and gas to flow through Israel by the end of the war. “Just have oil pipelines, gas pipelines, going west through the Arabian Peninsula, right up to Israel, right up to our Mediterranean ports and you’ve just done away with the choke points forever,” Netanyahu said.

Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi warned Thursday that “all options at the military level are on the table” in a message of support for its ally Iran. The comments have raised concerns over potential future disruptions to Red Sea traffic, which would cause oil prices to rise even further, among other immediate consequences.

Israel continued its invasion and bombing of Lebanon, and Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks against Israel. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,001 people and wounded 2,584 since March 19, including 33 killed and 152 injured in the past 24 hours alone. 

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