The Daily Populous Wednesday March 18th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by turkiyetoday.com and submitted by 1-randomonium

The picture shows a view of phase 12 of the South Pars gas field facilities near the southern Iranian town of Kangan, on the shores of the Gulf, January 22, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Facilities associated with Iran's South Pars natural gas field in Asaluyeh in Bushehr province came under attack on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported, in what would mark the first time Iran's upstream oil and gas facilities have been targeted since the war began.

"The Israeli Air Force struck Iranian gas infrastructure in the south of the country a short while ago," an Israeli official cited by the Israeli media figures stated.

"The Air Force struck Iran's largest gas processing facility, located in the southwest of the country. The strike was carried out in coordination with the United States and with its consent," a senior Israeli official says, cited by Barak David.

"These phases have been taken offline to control and prevent fire from spreading, and the situation is under control, and the firefighting teams of South Pars and the Pars Special Economic Zone are working to extinguish the fire," says Asaluyeh Governor, cited by the Iranian media.

"A crisis management headquarters has been formed, and necessary measures for assistance are underway, with no casualties have been reported so far," the governor added.

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Gas storage and refineries hit; 2 plants halt output

Iranian state media reported that gas storage tanks at South Pars were struck, halting output at two refineries with a combined capacity of approximately 100 million cubic meters per day.

Iranian state television, the state-run IRNA news agency and Tasnim news agency all reported on the attack.

"Part of the facilities of the South Pars and Asaluyeh oil industry were targeted an hour ago by a Zionist-American enemy attack," Tasnim reported. Iran's state news agency IRIB said South Pars petrochemical facilities were hit.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel or the United States carried out the attack, though the U.S. has been operating primarily in southern Iran.

The U.S. previously struck Iran's Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, its main oil export terminal.

South Pars: The world's largest natural gas field

South Pars is the world's largest natural gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf. Daily gas production at South Pars reached a record 730 million cubic meters in 2025, according to the Iranian oil ministry news service Shana.

The field is the source of most of Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports.

South Pars is also a major source of natural gas supply to Türkiye. If Türkiye loses some Iranian flows as a result of the attack, it could increase demand in an already tightened market for spot LNG cargoes.

Iran has repeatedly struck Qatar during the war, alongside other Gulf Arab nations. Qatar operates facilities on the same offshore field.

pacman3333 on March 18th, 2026 at 13:36 UTC »

You know what, maybe this helps us speed run to green electrification 😅

weare_thefew on March 18th, 2026 at 13:30 UTC »

I wonder if Qatar is wanting their golden jet back about now.

spoony20 on March 18th, 2026 at 13:14 UTC »

Now Iran is gonna do the same to UAE’s refinery so we all gonna pay more at the pump…