Israel will not carry out further attacks on Iran’s vital South Pars gas field, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, while warning Tehran against targeting Qatar’s energy infrastructure amid tit-for-tat strikes in the Middle East that sent global oil prices soaring.
"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," he said in a post on Truth Social. "A relatively small section of the whole has been hit."
Trump was quick to distance Washington from the South Pars strikes, claiming it was solely an Israeli operation. "The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen," he said.
His remarks came in the wake of Iran threatening retaliation across the Gulf for yesterday's bombing of South Pars, said to be the world's largest natural gas field. In a statement, Iranian authorities warned that five energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar "will be targeted in the coming hours".
In short order, Iran launched missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the country’s main liquefied natural gas hub, early on Thursday, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Defence. The site, a bedrock of the Gulf state’s economy, has been repeatedly targeted during the conflict.
"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," Trump said.
The US President warned Tehran against further escalation, threatening to "blow up" the whole of South Pars gas field if the Ayatollah regime continues attacks on Qatar's energy facilities.
"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," he wrote.
Since the conflict began on February 28, Israel and the US have struck multiple targets in Iran, including oil facilities. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks across the region, including on Gulf states.
The situation has rattled global energy markets, particularly after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Source: India Today