Oil prices surge as Iran says energy production facilities attacked

• Attacks in Gulf: Oil prices surged today after energy infrastructure in Persian Gulf countries came under attack, with fires reported at facilities in Qatar and aerial threats intercepted in Saudi Arabia, following a warning from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC accused the US and Israel of targeting its oil and gas facilities.

• Intel assessment: The US intelligence community assesses the Tehran regime “to be intact, but largely degraded,” intel chief Tulsi Gabbard said today.

• Top official killed: Iran’s president said intelligence minister Esmail Khatib was killed in the latest attack by Israel on the country’s senior leadership.

• Strait of Hormuz: NATO is discussing with its allies how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as US President Donald Trump suggested that they should take sole responsibility for policing the waterway if the US causes the Iranian regime to collapse.

Energy infrastructure in Persian Gulf countries came under attack today, with fires reported at key facilities in Qatar and aerial threats intercepted in Saudi Arabia, following a warning from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Qatar’s Interior Ministry said Civil Defense teams were responding to a fire in the Ras Laffan Industrial City, a key natural gas processing facility and a bedrock of the Qatari economy, “following an Iranian targeting,” according to a post on X.

In a separate statement, QatarEnergy confirmed that Ras Laffan was struck by missiles, causing significant damage. The company said emergency teams were deployed immediately to contain the fires, adding that all personnel have been accounted for and no casualties were reported.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry warned in a statement today that such attacks represent “dangerous escalation, a flagrant violation of the State’s sovereignty, and a direct threat to its national security and the stability of the region.”

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted four ballistic missiles over the capital, Riyadh. Debris fell in various parts of the city, though no damage was reported in a preliminary assessment.

The ministry also said it intercepted two drones, including one headed for a gas facility in the Eastern Province. The drone was destroyed without causing damage, it said.

Earlier, the IRGC warned that Iran’s adversaries should “await the powerful action” of its armed forces, following what Tehran described as attacks on its own energy infrastructure.

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of targeting its oil and gas facilities, including the South Pars Gas Field, the world’s largest natural gas field.

The IRGC also called for the evacuation of personnel and residents near certain oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, raising concerns over further potential strikes.

The incidents mark a significant escalation in regional tensions as critical energy infrastructure is increasingly drawn into the conflict, heightening risks to global energy markets and regional stability.

Air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles over Riyadh on Tuesday, with sirens blaring and explosions heard near a high-level meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, according to CNN’s Nic Robertson, who was reporting from the scene.

Robertson said he heard multiple detonations consistent with interceptions and saw debris, or possibly part of a missile, fall roughly a mile from the venue where regional foreign ministers were gathering. He also described seeing interceptor missiles launched from the center of Riyadh — something unprecedented during his time covering the conflict.

The meeting drew senior officials from across the region, including representatives from Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Persian Gulf Arab states.

While missile interceptions have become more common elsewhere in the gulf amid the conflict involving Iran, such incidents are highly unusual in the Saudi capital. Robertson noted that during more than two weeks in Riyadh, he had not previously witnessed intercepts or heard air defense activity in the city.

Saudi authorities earlier warned that ballistic missiles were in the air, with debris falling over parts of the capital.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to lawmakers Wednesday that the intelligence community believes the Iranian regime is intact, "but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities."

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard answered questions about the war in Iran at a hearing today on Capitol Hill where she said the Iranian regime “appears to be intact, but largely degraded.”

Here’s what else to know:

• Global oil prices surpassed $108 per barrel today, as the US and Israel reportedly carried out strikes on parts of Iran’s oil and natural gas production facilities, according to state media. A US official denied that the country was involved in the attacks, instead saying it was carried out by Israel.
• After those attacks, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned its enemies should “await the powerful action” of the country’s armed forces. It also called for the evacuation of some oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
• The UAE and Qatar warned that attacks on energy infrastructure pose a serious threat to global energy security and regional stability. The UN nuclear watchdog urged restraint after Iran said a “hostile projectile” struck the grounds of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
• The Trump administration recognizes rising gas prices are a “problem,” Vice President JD Vance said, adding that they are “doing everything that we can to address it.”
• The leader of Israel’s left-wing Democrats party is warning that a “deep military maneuver inside Lebanon, without a clear political objective, will drag Israel back into the Lebanese quagmire.”
• Gabbard testified that it is the president’s job — not hers — to determine what is an “imminent threat.” She also declined to say whether she was asked to brief President Donald Trump on the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz.
• Democratic senators did not dwell on the resignation of Joe Kent, who stepped down yesterday citing misgivings about the war in Iran. Meantime, Vance said the resignation was a “good thing.”
• Trump and other top officials are attending a dignified transfer of the six US service members killed when their refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq last week.

CNN’s Kit Maher, Dana Karni, Oren Liebermann, Jennifer Hansler, Kaanita Iyer, Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Dana Karni, Sean Lyngaas and Alayna Treene contributed reporting to this post.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, hitting a nationwide average of $3.84 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA. That’s up 26 cents over the past week and 92 cents over the past month.

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a new warning today, saying Iran’s enemies should “await the powerful action” of the country’s armed forces, after what it described as an attack on Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure.

The warning came after Tehran accused the United States and Israel of attacking parts of Iran’s oil and natural gas production facilities, including the South Pars natural gas field, the world’s largest.

If confirmed, this would mark the first attacks on Iranian oil and natural gas production facilities in this war. Last week, Israel attacked a number of Iranian fuel depots.

An Israeli source told CNN earlier Wednesday that Israel had attacked the Asaluyeh facility in southwestern Iran. Another Israeli official said the Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars facility was carried out in coordination with the United States.

The IRGC said in a statement that a “criminal enemy” had “violated part of Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure” and reiterated earlier threats to retaliate if Iran’s energy, gas or economic facilities were targeted.

Iran considers it “legitimate” to target the fuel, energy and gas infrastructure of the “country of origin” and would respond “at the first opportunity,” the statement added.

The IRGC also called for the evacuation of residents and employees at some oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Following the warning, the Saudi Defense Ministry said four ballistic missiles were intercepted over the capital, Riyadh. “Debris fell over different parts of the capital,” but no damage was reported according to a preliminary assessment, it added in a statement.

The ministry also said it intercepted two drones. One of them “attempted to approach one of the gas facilities in the Eastern Region, and the interception and destruction operation resulted in no damages,” it said.

CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany contributed to this report.

Arab countries on the Persian Gulf warned today that attacks on energy infrastructure linked to Iran’s South Pars natural gas field pose a serious threat to global energy security and regional stability.

Tehran accused the United States and Israel earlier Wednesday of attacking parts of Iran’s oil and natural gas production facilities, including the South Pars natural gas field, the world’s largest.

The United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement that “targeting energy facilities linked to the South Pars field in the Islamic Republic of Iran — an extension of Qatar’s North Field — represents a serious escalation.”

The ministry said targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a direct threat not only to global energy supplies but also to regional security. It warned of potential environmental damage and risks to civilians, maritime navigation and critical industrial facilities.

The UAE called for strict adherence to international law and urged all parties to avoid targeting vital infrastructure under any circumstances, emphasizing the need to preserve stability in the region.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, described the reported targeting of facilities linked to South Pars as a “dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region.”

He warned that such actions threaten not only energy security but also the environment and the safety of populations across the region, and he reiterated calls for restraint and de-escalation.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said today that an enemy attack on Iranian oil infrastructure “means suicide for them.” In a post on X, he added that “the equation of an eye for an eye is in place, and a new level of conflict has begun.”

The Vatican’s top diplomat has urged US President Donald Trump and Israel to end the war in Iran “as soon as possible” and “leave Lebanon alone.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, was asked in Rome on Wednesday what he would say to Trump about the conflict in Iran.

The cardinal said he’d tell the president “to put an end to it as soon as possible, because the real danger is that an escalation is just around the corner. I would say: leave Lebanon alone.”

He said his message should also be “addressed to the Israelis” and called for problems to be addressed through diplomacy and dialogue.

Parolin was speaking at the presentation of a book on Pope Leo at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome.

His remarks follow the pope’s appeal for a ceasefire in Iran earlier this week, and his call for journalists “not to become a mouthpiece for those in power” when reporting on the war and “not to transform it into a video game.”

The Israel Defense Forces struck 200 Iranian targets in western and central Iran over the past day, as the military said it continues to degrade Tehran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles and defense systems.

“Over the past day, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 200 Iranian regime targets in western and central Iran,” the IDF said in a statement today.

It said targets included sites used by Iran to store and launch ballistic missiles and drones, as well as air defense systems, ballistic missile launchers, and weapon production sites.

Nearly a thousand people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon in less than two and a half weeks, the country’s health ministry said a short while ago, as the bombardment of the country continues.

Two people were also killed in an Iranian attack on Israel overnight, with deaths reported in Iran and Iraq today as well.

CNN is keeping a tally of the reported deaths in the region, though we are not able to independently verify these figures.

Here’s what we know about the latest number of people killed in the region since February 28:

• Iran: Iranian authorities have not updated the country’s official death toll in more than a week, but Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday that “hundreds of Iranian civilians,” including more than 200 children, have been killed since the conflict began. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said yesterday that 1,354 civilians, including at least 207 children, have been killed, as well as 1,138 military personnel. Another 622 people have also died, HRANA said, but it has not yet been determined if they were civilian or military.
• Lebanon: In an update today, Lebanon’s health ministry said that at least 968 people have been killed in the country since Israel began attacking it on March 2. Of those killed, 116 were children, it said.
• Iraq: At least 50 people have been killed in Iraq since the conflict began, including three members of the Popular Mobilization Forces who were killed today, according to two security sources and a recent PMF statement. An additional five people from Iranian Kurdish groups, an Iraqi Kurdish security member, and a French soldier have been killed in Iraqi Kurdistan, the groups and the Kurdistan Regional Government told CNN.
• Israel: At least 16 Israelis have been killed since the conflict began. This includes nine who were killed in a direct missile hit on a residential building on the city of Beit Shemesh, and two Israeli soldiers who were killed in southern Lebanon on March 8. Another two people were killed in an Iranian ballistic missile attack in central Israel overnight, according to Israel’s emergency response service.
• US: Thirteen US service members have been killed since the start of the conflict, including six who died when their refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on Thursday. A further six US service members were killed in an Iranian strike that hit a makeshift operations center in Kuwait on March 1.
• UAE: At least eight people have been killed in the United Arab Emirates since the conflict broke out, including a Pakistani national who was killed by falling debris from an intercepted ballistic missile in Abu Dhabi, the city’s media office said yesterday.
• Kuwait: At least six people have died in Kuwait. This includes an 11-year-old girl who died from injuries sustained when shrapnel fell on a residential area on March 4.
• Oman: An Indian national died after an unmanned boat attacked the oil tanker he was working on 52 nautical miles off the Omani coast, the Oman News Agency reported. Additionally, two foreign nationals were killed in a drone “crash” in Oman’s Sohar district, the country’s defense ministry said Friday.
• Saudi Arabia: Two people were killed after a military projectile struck a residential facility in the city of Al-Kharj on March 8, the Saudi Civil Defense said.
• Bahrain: One person was killed after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media said. Separately, a 29-year-old Bahraini woman died after an Iranian strike on the capital Manama, according to Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior.

CNN’s Charbel Mallo, Nechirvan Mando, Aqeel Najim, Helen Regan, Dana Karni, Tal Shalev, Tamar Michaelis, Kaanita Iyer, Haley Britzky, Lex Harvey, Jessie Yeung, Laura Sharman, Ibrahim Dahman and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this reporting.

A US official denied that the country attacked gas fields in Iran, instead saying it was carried out by Israel.

Iranian state media, earlier today, had said that the US and Israel attacked parts of its oil and natural gas production facilities, including South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field.

An Israeli source told CNN earlier today that Israel had attacked the Asaluyeh facility in southwestern Iran. A separate Israeli official said the Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars facility had been carried out in coordination with the United States.

Vice President JD Vance said today that former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent’s resignation was a “good thing,” and that members of the administration have to carry out President Donald Trump’s decisions even if they disagree with them. He added: “That’s how I do my job.”

Kent announced Tuesday that he was resigning due to disagreements over the Iran war. Some parts of the MAGA world have criticized Vance for not being clear about his feelings on the war.

“I know the president very well; he welcomes differences of opinion. He likes it when people express their views about what should happen, he listens to everybody,” Vance said at a speech in Michigan. “That said — whatever your view is — when the president of the United States makes the decision, it’s your job to help make that decision as effective and successful as possible.”

“If you are on the team and you can’t help implement the decisions of his administration … then it’s a good thing for you to resign,” he added. “That’s how I do my job, and I think that’s how everybody in the administration should do their job, too.”

CNN reported that Kent met with Vance on Monday explaining why he intended to step down. His resignation letter stated that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the US.

Vance initially had some reservations about the decision to strike Iran, sources told CNN, but he has repeatedly dodged or declined to answer questions in public about his personal feelings on the war. He has expressed confidence that it will not become a long-term conflict.

And while some in the administration have disparaged Kent as a leaker, Vance said, “I know Joe Kent a little bit. I like Joe Kent.”

Six US Air Force airmen killed as a result of a refueling aircraft crash in Iraq will be brought home in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force base on Wednesday, a White House official said.

The service members were identified by the Pentagon as Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

President Donald Trump is attending, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has also said he’d be attending.

The crash occurred in western Iraq last Thursday as part of the United States’ military action in Iran. The crew members were aboard a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft when it crashed, the US military said, adding that the incident was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

President Donald Trump is en route to Dover Air Force Base to attend a dignified transfer of the six US service members killed when their refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq last week.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt were among those accompanying the president when he boarded Air Force One Wednesday afternoon.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine previously said that he and his wife will also attend the transfer “to pay our respects” to the three Ohio service members killed in the crash, which the US military said was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

Upon arriving in Delaware, several members of Congress joined Trump for the dignified transfer. They included House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sens. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Jon Husted of Ohio, Tim Sheehy of Montana, Jim Banks of Indiana, Katie Britt of Alabama and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

The six US service members killed were from Alabama, Washington, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

Earlier this month, Trump attended the dignified transfer of six US Army Reserve soldiers who were killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait. He was joined by first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance as well as top military officials.

Vance had just concluded a speech in Michigan when Trump boarded Air Force One this afternoon.

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declined to say today whether she was asked to brief President Donald Trump on the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz prior to the US launching military action against the country.

“I’m not going to comment on what the president did or didn’t ask me on any topic,” Gabbard said in response to a question from Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat.

Asked the same question, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said such briefings don’t typically come at the request of the White House, rather that intelligence agencies raise important intelligence with the White House when it arises.

“There has been and continues to be [intelligence] analysis with respect to” the Strait of Hormuz, Ratcliffe said.

More context: About one-fifth of the world’s oil output flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s effective closure of the strait has roiled energy markets.

The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the strait in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing US military operation, CNN reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was “fully briefed” on planning for the possibility of Iran closing the strait.

Later in the hearing Wednesday, Ratcliffe said that Iran has requested intelligence help from Russia and China in the war, but he declined to elaborate on that in an unclassified setting.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog urged restraint after Iran said a “hostile projectile” struck the grounds of the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday but reported no casualties or damage to the facility.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said in a statement Tuesday that the incident caused “no financial, technical or human damage,” adding that “no part of the power plant was damaged.” The organization said the projectile hit the plant’s grounds at around 7 p.m. local time, but it did not say who was responsible.

“Such actions are against all international regulations on immunity of nuclear facilities from military attacks and can have irreparable consequences for the entire region, including the countries bordering the Persian Gulf,” the Iranian statement said.

The head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that the agency received separate information from Iran and Russia about a hit by a drone on the premises of the nuclear power plant.

Based on the information the agency has so far, it might have hit a small building that contains a laboratory, Grossi told reporters during a visit to Washington.

“The reactors have not been affected, and there are no casualties,” he said.

Grossi said the agency is looking at images and that the strike “doesn’t seem to be very significant.” But he reiterated that any attack on a nuclear facility should always be avoided.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military and the US Department of Defense for comment.

A source told CNN on Tuesday that the Israeli military did not carry out the strike. The source could not provide further details.

Democratic senators during a committee hearing today did not ask intelligence chiefs about the resignation of Joe Kent, a high-ranking Trump appointee who stepped down yesterday citing misgiving about the US war with Iran.

As senators from both parties on the Senate Intelligence Committee questioned the intelligence chiefs — including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — Kent’s resignation was only raised by GOP Sen. John Cornyn.

Kent, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday, saying “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” which contradicted the Trump administration’s argument for starting the war.

Ratcliffe, when asked by Cornyn about Kent’s assessment, and whether he disagrees, said, “I do.”

US Director of National Intelligence says its not her job to determine what is an ‘imminent threat.’

“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the President,” Tulsi Gabbard said at the Senate’s Worldwide Threats hearing.

Gabbard’s stunning statement, in an exchange with Sen. Jon Ossoff, comes as the administration has argued that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States that required US military action.

“Was it the intelligence community’s assessment that, nevertheless, despite obliteration, there was a, quote, ‘imminent nuclear threat’ posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?” the Georgia Democrat asked.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” Gabbard said, claiming that the President makes such an assessment of imminence based on “a volume of information that he receives.”

“It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing, where, as you noted in your opening testimony quote, you represent the IC’s assessment of threats,” Ossoff replied.

The leader of Israel’s left-wing Democrats party has warned of a “Lebanese quagmire” if the country’s leadership moves forward with a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.

In a statement during a visit to Israel’s northern border, Yair Golan said, “A deep military maneuver inside Lebanon, without a clear political objective, will drag Israel back into the Lebanese quagmire and will not bring real security to the communities of the north.”

Golan, a retired major general who once served as the military’s deputy chief of staff, said “true victory” requires military achievement coupled with “a successful political endgame.”

Israel has called up more than 120,000 reservists since the start of the war with Iran and moved additional troops to the northern border in the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah as the Israeli military has gradually pushed forces into Lebanon.

Shrapnel from an Iranian ballistic missile damaged three private jets at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, according to the spokesman for the airport.

A picture from Israel’s Channel 12 News shows the inside of one of the jets entirely burned out. The cockpit of the plane is also destroyed, with burn marks and soot covering the instrument panel and the seats. Channel 12 notes that the picture has been approved for release by Israel’s military censor.

Since the start of the war with Iran, shrapnel and cluster munitions have caused damage near the airport multiple times, but this appears to be the first time that aircraft at the airport itself have been damaged.

The US has used the international airport for the operation of several Air Force aerial refueling tankers since the war began.

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration recognizes rising gas prices due to the Iran war are a “problem,” telling Americans to expect a “rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks.”

He echoed President Donald Trump’s justification that the spike is “a temporary blip,” and later added another defense: “Overseas they’re feeling it far worse than we did.” Gas prices in Europe are typically higher than in the US.

“It’s not going to last forever. We’re going to take care of business. We’re going to come back home, and when that happens, you’re going to see energy prices come back down to reality. But in the meantime, we got a problem. We know that we have a problem. We’re doing everything that we can to address it,” Vance said at an event in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Wednesday’s AAA national average is $3.84 today for a gallon of regular, rising from one week ago, $3.58, and one month ago, $2.92. Meanwhile, states like California are facing average prices above $5.00 per gallon.

Vance vaguely teased some actions to combat higher gas prices will come in the next 24-48 hours. This morning, the White House announced it is temporarily lifting the Jones Act as an avenue to lower prices.

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