The Israeli military strike on the South Pars gas field has exposed the rift between Washington and Tel Aviv amid the military operation in the Middle East, the Guardian reports.
The attack angered US allies in the Persian Gulf and prompted US President Donald Trump to deny any knowledge of the attack, the article reports. Israel denied this claim.
Pars is the world's largest oil and gas field, located in the Persian Gulf. Its reserves are estimated at 51 trillion cubic meters of gas and 50 billion barrels of condensate. It is divided between Iran (3,700 square kilometers - South Pars) and Qatar (6,000 square kilometers - North Pars). In 2025, production here reached a record 730 million cubic meters per day.
On March 18, Iran announced an attack by Israel on its energy facilities in South Pars. However, US President Donald Trump said that Iran, without properly understanding the situation, “unjustly” attacked the Qatari LNG plant, which is part of the same field.
Saudi authorities expect oil prices to jump to over $180 per barrel in the coming weeks if supply disruptions continue until the end of April, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A price of $200 per barrel is also entirely achievable in 2026, according to analysts at energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.
Amid the US and Israeli operation against Iran and the latter's effective blockade of fuel transit through the Strait of Hormuz, world oil prices have risen sharply. A few days ago, the price of Brent crude oil jumped to almost $120 per barrel, then fell, but by the morning of March 12, it had risen again above $100 for the same volume. According to Investing, the current price of a barrel of Brent crude oil is $107.51.
„Saudi Arabia generally does not approve of oil prices rising too quickly, as it creates long-term market instability. "For the Saudis, the ideal option is a relatively moderate price increase while maintaining a stable market share," said Umer Karim, an analyst of Saudi foreign policy and geopolitics at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
The general contractor for the construction of the second phase of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Russian corporation Rosatom, is preparing a large-scale evacuation of its employees from the plant, said Alexei Likhachev, head of the state corporation.
"It is clear that the general situation is escalating in the Persian Gulf, on Iranian territory. We are preparing another evacuation. It will probably be a large, centralized evacuation, after which literally several dozen people will remain at the site," he told reporters. These personnel are needed to monitor the equipment, Likhachev continued. The Bushehr nuclear power plant, he said, remains a priority for Rosatom, but the corporation will wait for the end of the conflict before continuing construction.
“We must protect our comrades, our people. Therefore, as soon as the military and political situation allows, people will leave the plant and Iran. A route through Armenia has been developed,“ the head of Rosatom said.
The nuclear power plant is located near the port city of Bushehr in southeastern Iran. It is the first and so far only nuclear power plant in Iran.