Qatar’s air force shot down two Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, the defence ministry said – the first time a Gulf country has hit Iranian planes, after Tehran began region-wide attacks in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that have devastated its leadership.
Iran’s retaliatory attacks have hit ports, airports, residential buildings and hotels along with military sites across the wealthy region of oil giants and staunch US allies.
Six people have been killed and dozens injured since the attacks began.
But as the attacks widened to energy facilities, QatarEnergy, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, suspended production due to drone strikes on two of its sites.
European natural gas prices leapt more than 50 percent, while oil surged nearly nine percent on fears of disruption to supplies.
“Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully shot down two (Su-24) aircraft coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the defence ministry said, without mentioning the jets’ crews.
The Gulf militaries have so far focused on intercepting the hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran after US-Israeli strikes killed its supreme leader.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Saudi government warned that a “concerted” Iranian attack on oil facilities could trigger a military response.
The warning followed a drone strike at Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery – one of the region’s biggest – which forced it to halt some operations.
“It depends if this is seen as a direct attack on Aramco by the Iranian leadership or a rogue drone,” the source told AFP, referring to the state oil giant.
Saudi Arabia would target “Iranian oil facilities if Iran mounts a concerted attack on Aramco”, the source added.
Another source told AFP that the Saudi army had raised its readiness level to “full alert”.
In Abu Dhabi, a drone struck a fuel tank terminal, causing a fire though operations were not impacted.
“Abu Dhabi authorities have responded today to a fire resulting from the targeting of a Musaffah fuel tank terminal by a drone. The situation was promptly contained. No injuries were reported and there was no impact on operations,” the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.
Iran’s unprecedented bombardment has rattled a region long seen as an oasis of stability in the turbulent Middle East.
Blasts echoed across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama on Monday. Security analyst Anna Jacobs called the war a “nightmare scenario” for the Gulf.
“These sorts of attacks just completely obliterate the image of these countries as a safe haven,” she told AFP.
Earlier on Monday, smoke poured out of Kuwait City’s US embassy, an AFP correspondent saw.
Later, one Kuwait-based diplomat and a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the embassy had been damaged by a number of drones and a second Kuwait-based diplomat said the embassy building had been struck directly in the attack. (AFP)
Edited by Cecil Wong
