Maps and charts of the Iran War

The escalating U.S.–Israeli war with Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against Gulf neighbours have severely disrupted Middle Eastern energy infrastructure and global oil and gas flows. Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field and the Asaluyeh processing hub on March 18 triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf that hit refineries, gas plants and export terminals in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Multiple key facilities have been damaged or shut. Drone and missile attacks struck refineries and LNG plants in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, while missile debris forced the shutdown of the UAE’s massive Habshan gas complex and repeated attacks targeted its Fujairah export terminal.

Bahrain declared force majeure after its Sitra refinery was attacked, and Iraq sharply cut output from its southern oilfields despite avoiding direct strikes. Several export hubs were spared direct damage but saw operations halted due to security threats, intercepted missiles or precautionary shutdowns.

Iran’s military said strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure had led to “a new stage in the war”, in which it had attacked energy facilities linked to the United States.

“If strikes (on Iran’s energy facilities) happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed,” Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari said, according to ⁠state media.

QatarEnergy’s CEO told ​Reuters the Iranian attacks had knocked out a sixth of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, worth $20 billion a year, and that repairs ​would take three to five years. Israeli media reported that an Iranian strike hit oil facilities in Israel’s port of Haifa, causing damage but no casualties.

The strikes on regional energy facilities underscored Iran’s continued ability to exact a heavy price ​for the U.S.-Israeli campaign, and the limits of air defenses in protecting the Gulf’s most valuable and strategic energy assets.

The disruptions have sent energy prices surging worldwide. Middle East crude benchmarks hit record highs, U.S. diesel prices rose above $5 a gallon, and gasoline reached its highest level since late 2023. Asian refiners cut runs amid feedstock shortages, while governments from China to South Korea imposed export controls or price caps. The International Energy Agency called for a historic release of 400 million barrels from global reserves, underscoring the scale of the shock to energy markets and consumers.

The difficult task of refueling U.S. military fighter jets as they carry out strikes on Iran mostly rests on an aging fleet of Boeing KC-135 refueling aircrafts built in the 1950s and 1960s.

These aging tankers were in the spotlight after two collided mid-air over Iraq, killing all six crew, on Thursday, March 5. U.S. military said one crashed in Western Iraq, while the other tanker managed to land safely.

Although the military ruled out hostile or friendly fire as causes of the crash, the Islamic Resistance ​in Iraq, an umbrella ⁠group of Iran-backed armed factions, claimed responsibility, in an ⁠incident that highlights the risk of refueling aircraft in the air.

The United States ​has sent a large number of aircraft to the Middle East for operations against Iran. ‌

Delivery problems with a newer version, Boeing’s KC-46, meant to replace the aircraft in the fleet, have left the United States reliant mostly on the KC-135s.

Boeing and the Air Force have spent years trying to fix problems with the ​KC-46’s refueling boom and a visual monitoring system used by the boom operator to move it during refueling. Deliveries were temporarily paused last year after cracks were found in a handful of new tankers.

Boom operators can transfer thousands of pounds of fuel to compatible aircraft while flying thousands of feet above ground, working just 47 feet (14 metres) from the receiving plane.

The task of expertly aligning the boom with the receiving aircraft is down mostly to the boom operator, who sits at the rear of the aircraft, targeting a receptacle just slightly larger than a baseball.

The United States air force now has a fleet of 153, usually crewed by at least one pilot, a co-pilot and the boom operator. They can also be used for aeromedical evacuation missions.

How KC‑135R Stratotankers moved before and after the war began

Before the strikes began on February 28, most of the refueling aircraft flew within the United States or near Europe. Afterwards, recorded flight paths show more of them began flying transatlantic routes towards the Middle East.

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani was killed by Israel, the government confirmed on Tuesday, the most senior figure targeted since the U.S.-Israeli war’s first day, while a senior Iranian ​official said Iran’s new supreme leader rejected de-escalation offers conveyed by intermediary countries.

Larijani was widely viewed as one of Iran’s most powerful figures and a confidant of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his ‌son and successor, Mojtaba. The security chief had a reputation for pragmatic relations with other factions in the ruling system and foreign diplomats.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was chosen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader, more than a week ‌after he was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported.

Iran continues to halt almost all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. With Hormuz effectively blocked, Gulf exporters are shifting flows to pipelines that bypass the strait.

Shipments through these alternative routes have already started and are steadily ramping up, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Saudi Arabia is rapidly increasing flows via its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, while the UAE is raising exports through the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which connects onshore fields to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea pivot is now carrying meaningful volumes. According to the IEA’s March Oil Market Report, flows through the East-West pipeline have surged from an average of 1.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2025 to a record daily export of 5.9 mb/d from its western port of Yanbu on March 9 — with the pipeline expected to reach its full capacity of 7 mb/d within days.

The UAE is making a similar move. The IEA reports that flows through the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which connects onshore fields to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, averaged 1.8 mb/d between March 1-10 — hitting the line’s reported maximum capacity, up from around 1 mb/d before the crisis.

While Gulf nations struggle to find alternatives to Hormuz, Iran has continued to ship oil at a rate of 1.1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day, TankerTracker.com ​and Kpler data show.

On Friday, U.S. forces struck Kharg Island, the hub for about 90% of Iran’s oil exports and long viewed as one of Tehran’s most sensitive vulnerabilities. U.S. forces “totally obliterated every military target” there, President Donald Trump said on social media, warning that Iran’s oil infrastructure could also be hit if it continues to interfere with shipping in the strait.

Markets were watching for any sign that the strikes had damaged Kharg’s intricate network of ⁠pipelines, terminals and storage tanks. Even minor disruptions could further tighten global supply, adding pressure to an already volatile market.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has threatened Gulf ports and disrupted global trade through the Strait of Hormuz through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned that any ship ​passing through the narrow Strait will be targeted.

Since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began, at least 22 civilian ships — tankers, container ships and other bulk carriers — have been attacked, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War and AEI Critical Threats project (ISW/AEI).

In his first remarks as Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba ‌Khamenei said on Thursday Iran will will ​avenge the blood of its martyrs and keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.

Naval drones have been used in at least two attacks on oil ​tankers in the Gulf region since war erupted, according to maritime authorities and analysts, demonstrating ‌a dangerous new threat in the key shipping lane.

Two tankers were ablaze in an Iraqi port on Thursday, a step-up in attacks that have defied U.S. President ⁠Donald Trump’s claim to have won the war he launched two weeks ago.

Here are the ships that have been attacked according to ISW/AEI data:

The Middle East accounted for around 21% of global arms imports in 2025, according to newly released data on arms trade released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Barring 2024, the region has consistently imported over a fifth of world’s arms over the last 10 years. Since the Russia-Ukraine war, European arms imports jumped sharply, and in 2025 the region accounted for 42% of the global arms imports.

The United States was the biggest exporter of arms to the Middle East between 2021 and 2025, supplying 54% of imports. The next largest were Italy at 12% and France at 11%. The U.S. was the biggest arms supplier for several countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Qatar.

The UAE bought over 13,000 missiles from the U.S. in the last ten years while Saudi Arabia got 89 aircraft, over 150 armoured vehicles and around 1,800 missiles.

All of Iran’s imported arms came from Russia, based on data recorded by SIPRI. In the last 10 years, Iran has imported missiles, aircraft and air-defence systems all from Russia.

Nearly 73% of Iran’s arms exports went to Russia.

Protests and public demonstrations have rippled around the world following the largest U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in decades, data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) shows.

ACLED’s data covers demonstrations between February 28 and March 6 and records more than 990 worldwide, both for and against Iran’s government and for and against the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign against Tehran.

The largest number of demonstrations were recorded in the Middle East, where of 325 total protests, 35 were classified as violent demonstrations.

At least 23 protesters were killed in clashes in Pakistan on March 1, including 10 in the port of Karachi where security guards at the U.S. consulate fired on demonstrators who breached the outer wall, 11 in the northern city of Skardu where the crowd torched a U.N. office, and two in Islamabad.

In Iraq, police fired tear gas and stun grenades to scatter hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters who had gathered outside the Green Zone diplomatic compound in the capital Baghdad, where the U.S. embassy is located.

In European countries with large populations of Iranian exiles, many came out to celebrate in the days after the U.S. and Israeli campaign began.

In Paris, a joyous crowd of thousands turned out to celebrate, waving flags of Iran’s pre-revolutionary monarchy, some carrying red roses and bottles of champagne. Some held aloft portraits of loved ones killed under decades of Iran’s clerical rule. Others waved flags of Israel, the United States and France.

In Lisbon, exiled Iranians gathered outside the Iranian embassy.

In Britain, police said they had banned a pro-Iranian march due to take place in London on Sunday, citing the possibility of “extreme tensions” with ​counter-protesters and the risk posed by Tehran during the conflict in the ‌Middle East.

The threshold to ban a protest ​is high in Britain, with the police saying this was the first ​time the power had been invoked in 14 years, but the ⁠risks of public disorder were “so severe” it was right to block it. The ban ​also applies to any counter-protest marches.

In the United States, there have been 145 demonstrations in cities across the country including Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Dallas, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

The majority have been protests against the Trump administration’s U.S.-led campaign, according to the data.

Oil depots and refineries around Tehran spewed thick plumes of black smoke after Israel said it hit fuel depots and refineries in Iran overnight on March 7.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.

“By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale,” he wrote on X.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran’s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. “They are a legal military target,” he said.

The thick smoke, laden with harmful chemicals including hydrocarbons and sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, enveloped large parts of Tehran, which has a population over 9 million people, though an unknown number have fled the city since U.S. and Israeli strikes began.

Iranian authorities warned residents to stay indoors as much as possible and advised children, the elderly, heart and lung patients and pregnant women to avoid going outside altogether.

Pakistan’s meteorological department also warned winds may carry pollutants over the border into western parts of the country.

Mixed with water in the atmosphere, pollutants from oil fires can become acidic and rain back down to earth.

These toxic particles can cause respiratory irritation — especially for those with asthma or bronchitis — chemical burns to the skin or more serious damage to the lungs.

Global markets are closing out a tumultuous week after the conflict in Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes, and sent crude prices spiking.

Asian markets have been hit especially hard. The Korean index, KOSPI, fell nearly 20% from before the conflict started until Wednesday, and recorded the biggest drop in its history of 12% on March 4. It has since rebounded, but remains down 11% overall from last week, before the U.S. attack. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index also closed down 6% from last week.

Japan and South Korea rank among the top five importers of global oil and are most reliant on Middle Eastern crude, which accounts ⁠for about 95% and 70% of their imports, respectively. Markets in India declined by nearly 3% as the third-largest importer of global oil received a 30-day waiver from U.S. to import Russian oil amid the Iran war.

Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight and on Friday, smashing up city streets in an escalating conflict ​with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has sent many tens of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.

Israel ordered everyone in the densely-populated suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, to leave before launching strikes that lit ‌up the night sky. It earlier warned civilians to quit swathes of southern and eastern Lebanon.

They were the widest evacuation orders ever given by Israel against Lebanon and prompted a huge exodus of people before bombardments that turned buildings into rubble and took the facades off apartment blocks.

Israel’s military spokesperson posts evacuation orders on social media platform X. On Wednesday, the spokesperson ordered residents to leave a swathe of southern Lebanon amounting to nearly 8% of Lebanese territory. On Thursday, the spokesperson issued evacuation orders for Beirut’s southern suburbs with a roughly drawn map that included multiple suburbs and other towns, as well as written instructions that only mentioned some of those areas. Asked to clarify which areas in particular should evacuate, an IDF spokesperson told Reuters the map was “amorphic” and that the text was “what matters.”

An Israeli military official said several waves of strikes were launched against Hezbollah in the southern Beirut suburbs, striking about 115 targets including in residential buildings that the official said the group used as headquarters.

Israeli airstrikes have also targeted Tripoli in the north of Lebanon, Tyre, Sidon and Nabatieh in the south, and Baalbek in the east, the official said. ​Israeli military video showed what it said were strikes on command centres and weapons facilities in Lebanon. Reuters could not independently confirm that the buildings Israel hit did contain command centres or weapons facilities.

Meanwhile, many Lebanese evacuees were left without shelter after fleeing their homes.

“We’re sleeping here in the streets - some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” said Jamal Seifeddin, 43, who spent the night outside in the capital’s downtown district.

“I’ve never ​slept on the ground like this. I’ve been forced to. No one even brought a blanket,” he said.

On Friday, the U.N. human rights chief, Volker Turk, said Israel’s evacuation orders raise serious concerns ​under international law.

“These blanket, ‌massive displacement orders we are talking here about hundreds and thousands of people,” he said. “This raises serious concern under international humanitarian law, ​and in particular when it comes to issues around forced transfer.”