Trump: Israel carried out Iran gas field attack

US President Donald Trump said the attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field had been carried out by Israel and that neither the United States nor Qatar had been involved. He wrote on the social network Truth Social that Washington had no prior knowledge of the operation.

He added that Israel – which has not publicly claimed responsibility – would refrain from further strikes on the South Pars facilities unless Iran attacked Qatar: ‘In that case, the United States, with or without Israel’s help or consent, 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.’

According to reports citing officials, however, the United States had been informed in advance of the plan but did not take part. Tehran said the Israeli strike on its facilities marked a significant escalation of the conflict and had contributed to rising oil prices.

Iran has announced retaliatory steps and launched attacks on targets in the Gulf, including facilities in Saudi Arabia and the industrial city of Ras Laffan in Qatar. Doha criticised the strike on Iranian facilities while condemning Iran’s actions and expelling two Iranian diplomats.

The conflict between the US, Israel and Iran began at the end of February. Since then, the fighting has claimed thousands of lives and significantly affected global energy markets. Disruption to oil supplies has driven a sharp rise in prices.

(reuters, max)