Firefighters battled a fresh blaze at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery on Friday following another drone strike attributed to Iran, marking the second such attack on the facility this week.
The latest incident
comes amid escalating strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, even as millions in Iran marked the Persian New Year known as Nowruz, under the shadow of ongoing conflict.
Kuwaiti authorities said the fire broke out after the refinery was hit by a drone, underscoring growing concerns over the vulnerability of key oil facilities in the region. The attack was made after the strike a day earlier on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub, one of the world’s most critical gas export centres.
The wave of attacks comes after an Israeli strike earlier this week damaged Iran’s South Pars gas field, the world’s largest natural gas reserve and a cornerstone of Iran’s domestic energy supply prompting Tehran to vow retaliation.
The intensifying tit-for-tat strikes on energy infrastructure have heightened fears of prolonged disruptions to global oil and gas supplies, with markets already reacting to the uncertainty.
Despite the escalation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled that the conflict could be nearing its end. “We are winning and Iran is being decimated,” he said, adding that the war may conclude “faster than people think,” while hinting that a potential ground operation could be required to topple Iran’s leadership.
Iran, however, struck a defiant tone. Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said the country’s missile programme remained fully operational despite weeks of bombardment.
“Our missile industry deserves a perfect score… even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” he said in remarks carried by Fars news agency.
Shortly after his comments were published, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed that Naini had been killed in an airstrike, highlighting the rapidly shifting and volatile nature of the conflict.
With energy infrastructure increasingly in the crosshairs and both sides maintaining hardline positions, fears are mounting that the conflict could have lasting consequences for global energy stability.
-With inputs from AFP
