‘Clumsy’: Tit-for-tat strikes on energy assets gift Iran another tactical lever

‘Clumsy’: Tit-for-tat strikes on energy assets gift Iran another tactical lever Submitted by Sean Mathews on Thu, 03/19/2026 - 20:02 Iran is willing to risk it all in a war on energy assets, knowing it does not have to answer for the health of the global economy, experts say The Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administered by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 kilometres north of the capital Doha, on 6 February 2017 (Karim Jaafar/AFP) Off The US’s “clumsy” handling of attacks on Iran’s energy assets has handed Tehran a lever of escalation dominance in a rapidly spiralling war , two Arab officials told Middle East Eye. “First, Trump misjudged Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. He hasn't fixed that.