Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement published by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Sepah News that Tehran had not sought to expand the conflict to oil infrastructure or harm the economies of friendly neighboring states, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
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“Following the enemies’ aggression against Iranian energy infrastructure, we have practically entered a new stage of war,” he said.
Zolfaghari said Iran’s response was ongoing and warned that further attacks would be met with more intense strikes targeting energy infrastructure linked to the United States, Israel and their allies.
On Wednesday, Israel struck Iran’s South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Gulf, which it shares with Qatar. Qatar later reported fires and extensive damage at liquefied natural gas facilities following Iranian strikes.
The escalation comes amid heightened tensions after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began Feb. 28, prompting retaliatory attacks by Iran and its regional allies against Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East.
