Iran said on Wednesday that airstrikes had hit the infrastructure of the vast South Pars offshore gas field, the largest attack on Iran’s energy production since the war began nearly three weeks ago.

Oil prices rose following reports of the strikes, which hit oil and petrochemical facilities in the southern city of Asaluyeh, Iran said. Gas from the South Pars field, under the Persian Gulf, is pumped to Asaluyeh for processing.

Qatar, which shares the expansive offshore field with Iran, blamed Israel for the strikes and warned that targeting joint energy infrastructure was a “dangerous and irresponsible step” that could put global energy security at risk. Israel previously struck the South Pars field during its war with Iran last year.

Earlier Wednesday, Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, becoming the latest high-ranking Iranian official killed in the war. The Israeli military said in a statement that Khatib’s ministry had overseen espionage and covert operations against Iranians as well as Israeli and American targets across the world.

His death came a day after an Israeli strike killed the head of Iran’s National Security Council and the country’s de facto leader, Ali Larijani, whose funeral on Wednesday drew large crowds in Tehran. State media showed his coffin draped in the Iranian flag and surrounded by mourners who chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

Earlier Wednesday, the Israeli military intensified its attacks on Lebanon with strikes in Beirut and other major cities, towns and villages. Several Israeli strikes hit central Beirut, away from Hezbollah’s stronghold south of the capital — adding to fears that areas of the capital once considered safe are in danger.

Israel’s strikes came at times without warning. An unannounced Israeli attack on the central Zuqaq al-Blat and Basta areas of Beirut early Wednesday killed at least 10 people and injured 27 others, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Another building in Zuqaq al-Blat was struck later without a warning, igniting a fire on its upper floors.

Here’s What Else We Are Covering:

— Iranian strikes: In retaliation for the killings of Larijani and the commander of Iran’s powerful Basij militia, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday that it had struck Israel. Two people were killed by missile fire in Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv, and at least one person was injured by shrapnel, Israel’s emergency service said.

— Death toll: At least 1,348 civilians in Iran have been killed since the start of the war on Feb. 28, Iran’s U.N. representative has told the Security Council. In Lebanon, health officials said more than 900 have been killed. In Israel, at least 14 people have been killed, authorities said. The Pentagon says that 13 U.S. service members have died since the start of the war.

— Intelligence chiefs: In a hearing on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers are expected to ask about the information the Trump administration had ahead of the U.S.-Israeli war. The resignation on Tuesday of a top counterterrorism official, who said that Iran did not “pose an imminent threat to the United States,” will most likely to be a focus.

— Trump’s comments: President Donald Trump lashed out again on Tuesday at NATO allies who had rebuffed his requests for help opening the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane that has been all but closed because of Iranian attacks, sending oil prices surging. He also said that he was not afraid to put U.S. troops on the ground in Iran.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Abdi Latif Dahir, Christina Goldbaum and Francesca Regalado/Arash Khamooshi
c. 2026 The New York Times Company