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Emirati air defence was countering a missile threat Wednesday, authorities said, as Iran hit a major Qatar gas facility after threatening others across the Gulf following a US-Israeli attack on its own infrastructure. "UAE air defences are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran. MOD asserts that the sounds heard are the result of the air defence systems intercepting missiles and drones," the ministry of defence said.
The UAE engagement came as Iran's retaliatory campaign widened dramatically across the Persian Gulf. Hours earlier, an Iranian ballistic missile struck Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's largest LNG export hub, sparking a massive fire and causing extensive damage. Qatar's Foreign Ministry condemned Iran's "brutal targeting" of the site as a direct threat to national security and regional stability.
The twin escalations, an active air defence engagement over the UAE and a confirmed missile hit on Qatar's most critical energy asset, mark the most dangerous expansion of the conflict since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.
Qatar's Defence Ministry said the country was targeted on Wednesday by five ballistic missiles launched from Iran. Air defences intercepted four, but the fifth penetrated and struck Ras Laffan Industrial City, igniting a major blaze at the sprawling complex 80 kilometres north of Doha.
QatarEnergy confirmed that emergency teams had been deployed to contain the fire, reporting extensive damage but no fatalities. Qatar's Foreign Ministry responded with the sharpest language Doha has used since the conflict began, condemning the "brutal targeting" of Ras Laffan and calling it a direct threat to national security and regional stability.
The strike came after Iran explicitly named Ras Laffan as a target. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had listed five installations across three countries for imminent attack: Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the UAE's Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar's Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex and Ras Laffan Refinery. The agency described them as "direct and legitimate targets" and ordered all civilians and workers to evacuate immediately.
IRGC Navy chief Alireza Tangsiri warned that oil facilities linked to the United States were now equivalent to American military bases and would be struck with full force.
The Iranian threats triggered a scramble across the region. Major energy companies began urgently evacuating non-essential staff and their families, including Japan's top LNG buyer Jera, Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, and ADNOC in the UAE.
QatarEnergy had already begun scaling back operations and personnel at Ras Laffan before the missile struck. Qatar's Ras Laffan installations were being fully evacuated as of Wednesday evening, according to sources cited by Reuters.
The evacuation orders followed an Israeli airstrike on Iran's South Pars gas field earlier Wednesday, an attack an Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post was coordinated with the United States. South Pars is the world's largest natural gas reserve and is jointly operated by Iran and Qatar.
Iran's Ministry of Petroleum said a number of facilities were damaged but no casualties were immediately reported, and that fire teams were controlling the blaze.
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari condemned the Israeli strike on South Pars as well, calling it "a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region" and noting that the Iranian gas field is an extension of Qatar's own North Field.
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