Israel Strikes Iran's Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Israel struck two Iranian natural gas facilities on Friday, marking the first Israeli attack on Tehran's oil and natural gas industry, according to reports in Iran and the United States.

Semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone strike caused a "strong explosion" at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant in South Pars gas field, triggering fires in the facility. The plant produces liquified natural gas and other products, and the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported the strike, saying it happened in Phase 14 of the field. Iran's Oil Ministry confirmed the attack on the plant in the gas field, part of the world's largest pure natural gas reserve. It said that the fire has since been extinguished.

Later on Friday, Fox News reported Israel struck a second Iranian gas facility in southern Iran, near the city of Bandar Abbas, citing an Israeli official. According to the report, the Israeli official said the strike was "meant to send a message to officials in Tehran."

If confirmed, it would mark the first Iranian oil refinery attacked in Iran since the Iran-Iraq War. Israel did not immediately acknowledge the attacks. Such sites do have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting since Friday.

The offshore South Pars/North Dome field is part of a huge formation shared with Qatar that makes up the world's largest pure natural gas reserve.

The field, discovered in 1971, has 51 trillion cubic meters of onsite natural gas and 50 billion barrels of natural gas condensates in an area of 9,700 square kilometers (3,700 square miles), of which 3,700 square kilometers are in Iranian waters, and 6,000 in Qatar's economic waters.