Trump Says US 'Knew Nothing' About Israeli Strike On Iran's Gas Field, Warns Tehran Of Retaliation If Qatar Is Attacked

 

 

New Delhi : US President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States had no prior knowledge of the Israeli strike on South Pars, the world's largest natural gas field in Iran, while warning of strong retaliation against Tehran if Qatar's energy infrastructure is attacked again.

 

While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has openly threatened of "uncontrollable consequences that could engulf the entire world" after the attack, Trump, in a statement, said Israel had targeted a section of the South Pars Gas Field in Iran, adding that the US and Qatar were not involved and had no prior information about the strike.

"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. A relatively small section of the whole has been hit. 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," the US President said in a social media post.

 

He further alleged that Iran later attacked a portion of Qatar's LNG gas facility, calling it "unjustifiable". Assuring the Israel would not carry out any further attacks on this massive offshore natural gas field, Trump warned Tehran that any further attack on Qatar could trigger a strong response from the US, including potential large-scale action targeting the South Pars gas field.

 

"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," he said.

The US President further stated, "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."

At the same time, he said he does not want to authorise such escalation due to its long term consequences, but added that the US would not hesitate if Qatar is attacked again. "I do not want to authorise this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar's LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so," Trump warned.

 

Notably, after the Israeli strikes on Wednesday, Iran retaliated strongly by hitting a major natural gas facility in Qatar, keeping up attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbours' energy facilities. Meanwhile, with the continued squeezing of the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which one-fifth of the world's oil travels, the price of oil has reportedly surged another five percent to over USD 108 a barrel on international markets, increasing the price of gasoline and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is now up close to 50 percent since the start of the war.