The Israeli Air Force's strike on Iran's gas facilities in Asaluyeh was carried out after at least some Gulf states were notified in advance, in part so they could prepare for a potential Iranian retaliatory strike, Israel Hayom has learned.
Several hours before this report, the Tasnim news agency (an Iranian state-linked outlet) reported the attack on the gas facilities in Bushehr Province, which was carried out in full coordination with the US administration.
According to diplomatic sources in the region, the issue was raised during calls between President Trump and three Gulf leaders over the weekend. The leaders did not object but demanded American and other assistance to protect their oil installations and oil and gas fields.
באיראן טוענים:ישראל וארה״ב תקפו שדה גז בעיר הנמל עסלויה
העיר נמצאת במחוז בושהר.שדה הגז בעיר נחשב לחשוב ביותר במדינה,הוא חלק משדה האנרגיה פארס.
שדה הגז דרום פארס הוא שדה הגז הטבעי הגדול בעולם.יש שם פעילות משותפת של האיראנים ושל הקטארים
בישראל מאשרים -הותקפו התשתיות גז בעסלויה pic.twitter.com/AyKhWtAxf7
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The Gulf states received assurances that the escalation to strikes on Iran's gas and oil infrastructure would come only after Iran's launch capabilities – both missiles and drones – were reduced to a scale that could largely be neutralized.
One of the sources told Israel Hayom that Iran had struck identical oil and gas installations across the Gulf states throughout the war, and had also hit fuel depots near ports. "They keep lying that they're hitting American targets, while in reality they're trying to cripple the international trade of the Gulf states – even as they've enjoyed immunity for their own facilities and most of the tankers sailing toward India and China."
The concern in the Gulf states is that Iran will escalate and focus its strikes on oil and gas fields, meaning long-term damage that would require enormous firefighting efforts and a lengthy recovery period. Israel and the US, meanwhile, assess that Iran will hesitate to carry out such a strike, because doing so would turn its own fields – the Revolutionary Guards' primary source of revenue – into legitimate targets.
The diplomatic source in the region added that if Israel and the US feel the time has come to strike Iran's energy infrastructure, it means they assess that the end is near and that the regime will struggle to respond sharply, having lost most of its launch platforms.
In response to the strike, Iranian officials recalled Tehran's prior warning, "In the event of an attack on energy infrastructure, all energy facilities serving the United States and Israel in the region are legitimate targets." Iranian state television channels then reported that Iran had issued evacuation warnings for energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
