U.S. President Donald Trump said an angry Israel “violently lashed out” and attacked Iran’s major gas field, a significant escalation in the U.S.-Israel conflict, but has ruled out any such attacks by Israel going forward, unless Iran retaliates.
Wednesday’s attack on the huge South Pars gas field has caused a considerable spike in oil prices and prompted a threat by Iran to attack oil and gas targets in the Gulf, while it fired missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
South Pars is the Iranian sector of the world’s largest natural gas deposit, which Iran shares with Qatar.
Iran Targets Gas Facilities Across the Gulf
Qatar’s state oil giant, QatarEnergy, reported “extensive damage” after Iranian missiles hit the Ras Laffan Industrial City that processes about a fifth of global gas supply. It also faced “sizeable fires” at several of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities that were targeted early on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh and an attempted attack on a gas facility on Wednesday and later on Thursday.
The UAE shut down its Habshan gas facility after it intercepted missiles fired in what its foreign ministry called a “terrorist attack” by Iran.
U.S. Was Not Informed Before Attack
Trump said United States did not have advance knowledge of Israel’s attack, adding that Qatar had not been involved.
On Wednesday, in a post on X, Trump said, “Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran.
“Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar’s LNG Gas facility.
“NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar.
“In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had approved of Israel’s plan to attack Iran’s natural gas field.
With de-escalation nowhere in sight, Trump is considering sending thousands more U.S. troops to West Asia, according to a U.S. official and three other sources.
Islamic Foreign Ministers Denounce Iran’s Attack
The Foreign Ministers of 12 Muslim-majority countries meeting in Riyadh denounced Iran’s strikes on its Gulf neighbours and called for an immediate halt.
Iran’s targeting of residential areas and civilian infrastructure could not be justified under any circumstances, the ministers said in a statement.
“This pressure from Iran will backfire politically and morally, and certainly we reserve the right to take military actions, if deemed necessary,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a press conference after the diplomats met in Riyadh.
Interceptors were seen firing from near the Riyadh hotel where the conference was held around the time the ministers gathered for the consultative meeting on the Iran war.
(With inputs from Reuters)
