In a significant escalation of regional hostilities, Israel’s primary oil refining facility in Haifa has come under a direct missile attack from Iran, marking the first such assault on Israel’s critical energy infrastructure amidst ongoing military tensions. The 197,000-barrel-per-day Haifa refinery, operated by Bazan, remains operational but has sustained notable damage.

According to Bazan, the attack targeted the refinery’s complex early Sunday, causing damage to pipelines and transmission lines that connect various downstream facilities. The company confirmed that while the refinery’s main operations continue, several downstream units have been shut down as a precautionary measure. The missile strike resulted in a localized impact, disrupting parts of the infrastructure but not crippling overall refinery functioning.

The incident signals a new chapter in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, occurring amidst recent hostilities that began on Friday, June 13. This attack is the first direct Iranian strike on Israel’s energy infrastructure since the onset of the latest round of fighting. It also follows Israeli drone operations targeting Iranian gas treatment facilities in southern Iran, indicating a rapidly intensifying regional confrontation.

Meanwhile, Iran has reported retaliatory strikes on its territory. The Iranian Oil Ministry announced that Israel conducted an airstrike late Saturday on an oil storage depot in Tehran’s northwest Shahran district. The attack ignited fires across two to three tanks containing oil products, with the Tehran fire department confirming that the blaze has been brought under control. Additionally, a second depot in Rey district, located in southern Tehran, was struck, resulting in another fire at the site.

Iranian authorities indicated that firefighting efforts have succeeded in containing the blazes. Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad visited the damaged Rey depot on Sunday to oversee salvage operations and assess the extent of the destruction, signaling ongoing restoration efforts amid rising tensions.

The conflict has prompted Israel to temporarily halt operations at two major gas fields as a defensive measure, aiming to safeguard critical energy infrastructure amid mounting hostilities. The region remains on edge as both nations engage in a dangerous exchange of strikes, raising concerns over broader escalation in the Middle East’s volatile geopolitical landscape.