Name: Iran war: Tehran threatens retaliation after attack on gas facility | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-03-19T23:05:22.000Z
Duration: 7 min 54 s
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We begin with threats of retaliation from Tehran after Israel attacked, reportedly attacked Iranian gas facilities earlier today.

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Iran says that it will take what it is calling decisive action in response to the attack on a petrochemical complex connected to the South Pars natural gas field, seen here in undated archive footage.

The offshore gas field is the world's largest with ownership shared between Iran and Qatar.

Doha has slammed the Israeli attack, calling it a dangerous and irresponsible step.

The attack has also shaken global energy markets with oil prices hitting $110 a barrel today.

Here are some more developments in the war.

Iran has confirmed the death of Intelligence Minister Esmael Khatib in an Israeli airstrike.

He was under US Sanctions over alleged cyber related activities against the US and its allies.

Australia's prime Minister says an Iranian projectile hit an air base in the UAE where Australian soldiers are stationed.

The attack on the Alminhad base caused only minor damage to barracks and a medical facility.

Three private planes parked at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv have been damaged after being hit by debris from Iranian missiles earlier in the day.

Two people were killed when Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses.

All right, for more now, I'm joined by Yossi Meckelbag.

He's a senior consulting fellow with the Middle east and North Africa program at Chatham House in London.

It's good to have you on the program this evening.

Israel has reportedly struck Iran's Pars or South Pars gas field, which is the Iranian section of the world's largest natural gas deposit that's shared with Qatar.

What do you think this is going to do in terms of maintaining global energy security?

I mean, it can't be maintained if these types of targets become fair game in this war, can it?

Most definitely the more this kind of energy installation, you know, whether it's tanker and Ormos straight off Hormuz, whether a disk installation in the Gulf are becoming completely fair target as part of the war, the more it creates insecurity, not only in the longer run, now it's in the short term run because we are talking about high percentage of energy that comes through this place, whether it's 20% of oil through the Strait of Hormuz or the large deposit of natural gas between cattle and Iran.

This will make the markets very, very worried.

And the immediate result, as we could see, that is oil prices and natural gas prices are going up and up.

You know, we have seen attacks in Beirut, Dubai, Oman, oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz do you think that this war is now morphing into a regional conflict?

It is a war that is engulfing part of the Middle East.

It has been so almost from the beginning of the war.

Hezbollah joined by attacking Israel, Iran attacked neighboring countries.

So yes, it's become a more regional war which can escalate.

I think one of the reasons for this is that both the United States and Israel made an assumption and their own assumption that it's going to be a very, a very short world beginning talk about 72 hours.

Then it became five days, two weeks and now we are deep into the third week, which in all cases there are some expectation of an absolute objective, achieving absolute objective, whether it comes to the nuclear, the ballistic missile supporting proxy.

But also the most dangerous from the Iranian regime point of view is regime change because this is a regime that fights for its own survival.

So the minute that this became a declared end war in one way or another, then it strikes.

On one hand, Iran is expanding the attacks on neighboring countries, but

also Israel and the United States because as a result and the impact on the international economy are seen Israel also hit by Iran.

So by escalating it, they try to bring it to a quicker end.

Is the goal of this war now regime destabilization in Iran?

I think from the first day, you know, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei was targeted and we'll see the list Alerjani, you know, senior, very senior figures within the Iranian regime, whatever anyone think about them, they are targeted.

And if you target the highest echelon within any given governmental regime, it means you try actually you physically already the need to be replaced.

The question if replacing these people also at the one point will bring to the collapse of the regime as a regime and bring a different one.

It's also we keep hearing that the calling for the Iranian people to go to the streets.

So I don't think we can be in much doubt that this is the main aim.

I'm wondering what would happen to this situation if US President Donald Trump tomorrow were to declare the war over.

What would that mean for Israel's goals and what would it also mean for the integrity of the regime in Tehran?

Well, there are hardly any good options here.

If the regime collapses without an alternative, it might lead to chaos and chaos for many years.

If Trump just decide because we live in the age of Trump that he decides what is victory and what is not.

It's what time to declare it then it might leave so many issues open that also create a very different Middle east and less stable one.

And the third option is this war drags for a very long time, which is destabilizing for the region, cause huge damage, but

also affects, as we can see, already three weeks into this, into destabilizing international markets.

Mecleback, I want to ask you before we run out of time, with more and more top Iranian security officials being killed by Israeli strikes, can we say that the one thing that is certain in this war is the precise reach of Israeli intelligence into the core of Iranian power?

This is no doubt about it when it comes to their intelligence gathering and knowing exactly where they are and.

This was proven back in June and once again now, always the question is what happens beyond what is the political aim and even the set objective?

Mr. Meckelburg, we appreciate your time and your valuable insights tonight.