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Qatar said on Sunday six people have been confirmed killed in a Qatari helicopter crash in the Persian Gulf nation's territorial water. The Interior Ministry said one person is still missing from from the crash, which took place the day before. The Defence Ministry blamed "technical malfunction" for the helicopter crash. The Interior Ministry's statement didn't clarify the nationality of the dead or say if they were civilian or military.
Iran's attack this week on Qatar's natural gas export facility threatens to disrupt not just world energy markets but also global technology supply chains because the helium it produces is crucial for a range of advanced industries. The gas that makes party balloons float is a byproduct of natural gas production, and a key input in chipmaking, space rockets and medical imaging. Qatar supplies a third of the world's helium, according to the US Geological Survey, and had to halt production shortly after the war erupted three weeks ago. After repeated Iranian drone attacks on Ras Laffan, the world's largest liquefied natural gas plant, state-owned QatarGas reported "extensive" damage that will take years to repair and cut annual helium exports by 14 per cent.
Iran's state television published a threat Wednesday, saying that the Islamic Republic would be attacking oil and gas infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The threat resembled other attack warnings put out by Iran during the war, copying the style used by the Israeli military. Iran specifically threatened Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and its Jubail Petrochemical Complex. It also threatened the UAE's Al Hasan Gas Field and the petrochemical plants and a refinery in the Qatar. It comes after Iran said its South Pars gas field and associated infrastructure came under attack earlier Wednesday.