Qatari Defence Ministry also says seven ballistic missiles and five drones fired by Iran were intercepted
\n Doha
\nQatar\u2019s air force has \u201csuccessfully shot down\u201d two Iranian fighter aircraft, the country\u2019s government says, as the fallout from the United States and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iranian retaliation, grows across the wider Middle East. The Qatari Defence Ministry said in a statement on Monday that the air force downed two SU-24 aircraft while seven ballistic missiles and five drones fired by Iran were also intercepted.
\n\u201cThe threat was addressed immediately upon detection, in accordance with the operational plan, as all missiles were shot down before reaching their targets,\u201d the ministry said. The Gulf country had condemned Iran for its \u201creckless and irresponsible\u201d targeting of Qatari territory in response to US-Israeli attacks that have killed hundreds of people across Iran since Saturday.
\nIran has launched a series of retaliatory strikes on targets in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries in recent days. Reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, Al Jazeera\u2019s Zein Basravi said the downing of the Iranian aircraft marks \u201ca major military escalation\u201d.
\n\u201cThis represents perhaps the beginning of air-to-air combat, and that is a serious escalation in a conflict that is already spiralling three days in,\u201d Basravi said. Iran did not immediately comment on the Qatari Defence Ministry\u2019s statement on Monday.
\nA spokesman for Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently said the country has the right to defend itself \u201cwith all might\u201d in response to the US-Israel attacks, which have killed several senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
\nIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told Al Jazeera in an interview on Saturday that the Iranian armed forces were \u201cdefending national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Iran against these barbaric acts of aggression\u201d.
\nIran\u2019s envoy to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, also said during a news conference on Monday that Tehran\u2019s response has been \u201clawful, necessary and proportionate\u201d.
\n\u201cWe target only the military objectives of the hostile forces. We don\u2019t target civilians. We don\u2019t target the interest of neighbouring states,\u201d Iravani said. \u201cUnder international law, every state has a duty not to allow its territory to be used for act[s] of aggression against another state.\u201d
\nBut the Iranian attacks on US and Israeli targets across the Middle East have drawn condemnation while raising concerns about a widening of the conflict.
\nIn a joint statement on Sunday, several countries in the region, as well as the US, condemned what they described as Iran\u2019s \u201cindiscriminate and reckless missile and drone attacks against sovereign territories across the region\u201d.
\n\u201cThese unjustified strikes targeted sovereign territory, endangered civilian populations, and damaged civilian infrastructure,\u201d the countries said, adding that they reaffirmed their \u201cright to self-defence in the face of these attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Attacks on energy infrastructure
\nThe Iranian strikes have also affected energy production in the Gulf region, with Qatar\u2019s state-run energy firm on Monday announcing a halt to liquefied natural gas (LNG) production due to the attacks.
\nThe shutdown caused benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices to soar by almost 50 percent, while benchmark Asian LNG prices jumped almost 39 percent.
\nSeparately, the Saudi Ministry of Defence said two drones had \u201cattempted to attack\u201d the Ras Tanura refinery on Monday morning and a \u201csmall\u201d fire had broken out after they were intercepted, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
\nFootage verified by Al Jazeera showed plumes of smoke rising from the oil facility, located on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Gulf coast.
\nHassan Ahmadian, an assistant professor at the University of Tehran, said the attacks on energy infrastructure are part of the country\u2019s push to target \u201cUS interests in the region\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Qatari Defence Ministry also says seven ballistic missiles and five drones fired by Iran were intercepted Doha Qatar\u2019s air force has \u201csuccessfully shot down\u201d two Iranian fighter aircraft, the country\u2019s government says, as the fallout from the United States and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iranian retaliation, grows across the wider Middle East. The Qatari […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-534696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n