Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel and Iran continued to trade airstrikes on each other on Saturday. Israel struck the Iranian Ministry of Defense, petroleum and gas sites, and, it said, further nuclear-related sites. So writes the Israeli newspaper Arab 48.
Iran for its part hit military and intelligence sites nestled among civilians in Tel Aviv, wounding some 7 military personnel, and struck the Mediterranean port of Haifa, including its oil refineries. One Iranian rocket fell on the largely Palestinian-Israel village of Tamra in the Galilee, killing 4 persons, and bring the Israeli total loss of life from the Saturday strikes to 8, with hundreds wounded. Damage to Israeli military installations cannot be verified because of the Israeli military’s censorship regime.
Geoinsider posted to ‘X,’ saying: “According to preliminary reports, the Haifa Oil Refineries have been struck. The refinery, operated by the BAZAN Group, is Israel’s largest oil processing facility, located in the Haifa Bay area. It processes approximately 9.8 million tons of crude oil annually and produces a wide range of refined products for industrial, transportation, and agricultural use.”
Defense Intelligence adds,
🚨🇮🇷💥🚀Iran's strike on the Haifa Oil Refinery, which provides over 60% of Israel’s fuel, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel for the Air Force, delivers a major blow to Israel’s economic lifeline and military capabilities. pic.twitter.com/sb92RIfHkL
— Defense Intelligence (@DI313_) June 14, 2025
Haifa Port, through which about a third of Israel’s imports pass, was also hit.
If these reports are correct, Iran has inflicted a significant blow on the Israeli economy and even on its war efforts. Israel imports significant amounts of crude oil from Azerbaijan, Gabon and Kazakhstan. But it isn’t clear who has the excess capacity and the will to supply Israel with refined petroleum. Crude petroleum is useless — it has to be refined into gasoline or diesel for fuel. Many Arab countries would be afraid of the rage of their own people if they supplied Israel after the Gaza genocide.
I also wonder whether the Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underestimated Iran’s ability to strike back significantly. Netanyahu appears to have been confident that Israeli strikes had crippled many Iranian missile launchers and that Iron Dome and other anti-missile missile systems could ensure that Tehran could not effectively retaliate for Netanyahu’s launching of a war of aggression on Iran. Iran’s hypersonic missiles, however, appear to be able to penetrate those defenses.
The Iranian strikes also damaged the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot southeast of Tel Aviv. The town of Bat Yam south of Tel Aviv was also struck, producing casualties.
“Missiles,” Digital, Midjourney and ChatGPT, 2025
As for the Israeli strikes on Iran’s refineries and natural gas facilities, it is a dangerous game for the rest of the world. In the past, when Iranian authorities wanted to protest Trump’s maximum pressure sanctions, they have struck at ships and refineries of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, underlining that other countries in the region would not have the security to export their oil if Iran did not. If Iran did lash out again in this way now, it would drive petroleum prices through the roof and harm industrialized societies.
On the other hand, such a regional oil war could be a tremendous boon for electric vehicles, the fuel of which is already much cheaper. We have rooftop solar, so if we charge during the day, the fuel for our EV is free.
Because Israel is constantly resupplied by and supported by the United States, you’d think it could outlast Iran in any war of attrition. And it certainly has more and better weapons. But it is a small country of 9 million or so, whereas Iran is ten times bigger and will attract the support of the people, at least, in countries like Iraq.
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