Samantha Donovan: Well, everyone hoping for a short, sharp war in the Middle East have had a setback today with news of a growing intensity in attacks targeting energy infrastructure, important to both sides of the conflict. An Israeli strike on an Iranian natural gas field prompted Iran to retaliate by hitting a gas plant in Qatar, and the shockwaves will likely be felt throughout the global economy. Nick Grimm prepared this report.
Nick Grimm: War is indiscriminate. Three Palestinian women died in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank, reportedly hitting a hair salon. Several more were injured. Local man Mussa Masalmeh saying:
Mussa Masalmeh: To be honest, I didn't hear anything until my grandchildren and children came to me and said, come and see. I asked them what had happened. They said, your uncle's house was hit.
Nick Grimm: The Israeli military says it was caused by a cluster munition, a warhead that splits into tiny bomblets that scatter over a wide area. Palestinians instead claim it was fragments from an Israeli interceptor missile. Either way, it's the territory's first loss of life since the war began, and the first time Palestinians have fallen victim. The latest civilian deaths stand in contrast to the highly targeted attacks that have killed senior members of the Iranian regime. Thousands of mourners lining the streets of Tehran for the funeral of Ali Larijani and other members of the Iranian government. It's now been confirmed Iran's intelligence minister Ismail Khatib was also killed in an Israeli strike. Mourners incensed too by the sinking of an Iranian warship in international waters by a US submarine.
Tehran Resident: Our ship, it was not armed. It had no ammunition. So they have to pay for this crime have made against our Marines.
Nick Grimm: Today, in what's been viewed as a major escalation of the conflict, Israeli forces hit Iran's huge Pars gas field, the energy infrastructure attack sending oil prices soaring. Then Tehran hit back at neighbouring Gulf states with missiles targeting Saudi Arabia, and Qatar's Raf Laffan gas plant also hit. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Fahd calling for an end to attacks on countries not directly involved in the conflict. But I have to tell you what little trust there was before has completely been shattered. Has been shattered on multiple levels. US President Donald Trump says he was not aware of Israel's attack on Iran's Pars gas field prior to it happening. And today, his vice president, JD Vance, acknowledging that Americans will be feeling economic pain in the weeks to come. So long as the war continues.
JD Vance: And we promise that when this conflict draws to a close, when this operation draws to a close, we're going to see those energy prices come back down to reality. Because that's what the president promised to do. He delivered an energy dominant agenda. It's made us much more secure in the face of these things. But yeah, we've got a rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks, but it's temporary.
Nick Grimm: Until today, the US and Israel had spared Iran's oil and gas infrastructure to keep pressure off the global oil price. Former senior US naval officer, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, served 32 years in the Navy. He considers today's developments a significant setback.
Mark Montgomery: This was an attack on production. It was guaranteed to engender the response it got with the Iranian attacks on Qatar and Saudi energy facilities that are vulnerable and close and very difficult to defend in short shots, particularly the Qatari ones. And it should have been expected. It's not helpful. We have not reduced the Iranian ability to strike sufficiently enough yet that the timing was right for this. So I was surprised. I think it was unnecessary. And it puts extra pressure on our Arab partners at a time when they are taking a lot more heat, so to speak, than even Israel is.
Samantha Donovan: Mark Montgomery is a retired Rear Admiral of the US Navy. Nick Grimm with that report.