Qatar warns Iran hitting gas facility a ‘direct threat’ to its national security

Qatar says Iranian attacks on its main gas facility situated on its north coast are a “direct threat to its national security.”

“Qatar expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the brutal Iranian attack targeting Ras Laffan Industrial City… Qatar considers this assault a dangerous escalation, a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, and a direct threat to its national security,” the Gulf state’s foreign ministry says in a statement.

Qatar’s state-run energy company says that the fires set by Iranian strikes on its main gas facility had caused “extensive damage,” after Tehran had said it would retaliate in kind for an attack on its own energy infrastructure.

“QatarEnergy confirms that Ras Laffan Industrial City this evening has been the subject of missile attacks,” the firm says in a statement. “Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting fires, as extensive damage has been caused. All personnel have been accounted for and no casualties have been reported at this time.”