New Delhi, March 20 -- Iran broadened its strikes on major energy facilities in the Middle East, eliciting strong warnings Thursday from Gulf Arab states that called it a dangerous escalation that threatened to draw them into direct combat with Tehran.

The strikes come after Israel killed Iran's intelligence minister and reportedly attacked the world's largest natural gas field in Iran as the war escalated pressure on the region's economic lifeblood: energy.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all denounced the Iranian attacks targeting their natural gas fields, with Saudi Arabia's top diplomat saying assaults on the kingdom meant "what little trust there was before has completely been shattered."

It remains unclear what s...