On March 20, 2026, in a London TV studio, a British host connected with Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Bagaei and publicly questioned Bagaei: "You, Iran, are attacking the natural gas facilities in Qatar and the energy facilities in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. These are not military targets. Why are you attacking the civilian energy facilities of the Gulf neighbors?"
After hearing this question, Bagaé was probably thinking, is the Western media selectively blind? Although he thought so in his heart, he couldn't say it out loud, so Bagae could only "defend".
Bagaei asked the host: "Who attacked our South Pars gas field first? It was Israel and the United States!"
Speaking of gas fields being attacked by the United States and Israel, we have to go back to two days ago. On March 18, the Israeli Air Force attacked facilities related to the South Pars gas field in Bushehr Province in southern Iran.
Israel itself admitted that it attacked Iran's largest natural gas facility, which handles about 40% of Iran's natural gas.
The South Pars gas field is the world's largest known natural gas field, shared by Iran and Qatar. It contains about 1,800 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, accounting for about 8% of the world's proven reserves.
Afterwards, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a press conference the next day that Israel carried out the air strike alone, without the direct participation of the US military. He also stated that he would comply with Trump's request to suspend subsequent similar attacks.
This is interesting. Some Israeli officials previously told the media that the attack was carried out in coordination with the United States, but Trump himself posted on social platforms that the United States had no knowledge of it.
There are three theories, the main one being arbitrary, which is to let the outside world guess who is telling the truth.
Iran responded quickly. On the day of the attack, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy posted on social media that oil facilities related to the United States would be at the same level as U.S. military bases and would be violently attacked.
On March 19, the Qatari Ministry of Defense stated that Qatar was attacked by five ballistic missiles from Iran that day, four of which were intercepted, and another one fell into Ras Laffan Industrial City and caused a fire.
Ras Laffan Industrial City is not just any industrial zone. It is responsible for about one-fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas exports.
It is precisely because this attack by Iran has affected the energy supply of many countries, including the United Kingdom, that British reporters publicly questioned Bagaei in full view of the public and tried to embarrass him.
The host asked: "You are attacking civilian facilities!"
Bagaei is the spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. What scene has he not seen before?
"These facilities that were hit are either US military bases or shared facilities that provide support for US military operations. According to international law, these are legitimate self-defense counterattack targets."
Bagaei said that the initiators of the current situation are the US and Israeli aggressors.
Iran only strikes facilities related to the United States and has never taken the initiative to attack civilian targets in the Gulf countries. Any country that provides military bases to the United States and Israel and assists in aggression will be deemed to have participated in the aggression, and Iran reserves the right to further counterattack.
After saying these words for three seconds, the British reporter was choked and speechless, with a gloomy expression on his face.
However, Qatar obviously did not buy this account. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning Iran’s attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City as a serious escalation.
It also complained to the United Nations Security Council, claiming that the attack violated Security Council Resolution 2817, and called on the Security Council to take measures to stop these serious violations. The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council also spoke out and condemned Iran's blatant attack on Qatari civilian facilities.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait were not immune. On March 19, the Samref Refinery in Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia was attacked by a drone. The Al-Ahmadi Port Refinery in Kuwait was hit by a drone and caught fire. The Habshan Gas Facility and Al-Bab Oilfield in the United Arab Emirates were also affected by the falling fragments of interceptor missiles.
If Bagaei hadn't defended Iran's counterattack under international law this time, Bagaei would not have accepted an interview with a British reporter.
Bagaei wants to take this opportunity to characterize Iran's counterattack as self-defense, put pressure on the Gulf countries, accuse them of being "accomplices" in providing military support to the United States, and by the way, appease the global energy market and downplay the impact of the attack on civilian facilities on public opinion.
After listening to Bagae's answer, the host did not ask any further questions. Maybe she also realized that this question does have an unavoidable logical premise, as to who made the move first.
