US President Donald Trump pledged the US would “massively blow up the entirety” of the world’s largest gas field if Iran attacks Qatar again.
Trump made his threat on social media against Iran’s South Pars natural gas field after Iranian missiles hit Qatar. The Iranian attack was in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the South Pars field earlier.
The US-Israeli war with Iran has roiled energy markets as the conflict escalates pressure on the region’s energy sector. The price of oil has surged on international markets, increasing the cost of gasoline and other goods while squeezing the global economy.
Global oil prices rose on news of the South Pars attack due to fears of Iranian retaliation on Gulf energy infrastructure.
Iran and Israel trade attacks on fuel facilities in Middle East, heightening global supply fears. (Source: 1News)
Trump said in his post that the US “knew nothing” about the attack, but a person familiar with the matter said earlier Wednesday that the US was informed about Israel’s plans to strike the gas field but did not take part.
Hours after the attack on the field, authorities in Qatar said a ballistic missile hit the country’s key natural gas site, sparking a fire that caused “extensive” damage, and Qatar ordered some Iranian Embassy officials out of the country.
Iran has been striking its Persian Gulf neighbours’ energy facilities since the war started February 28 and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, nearly impassable. Iran and Hezbollah also have been firing drones and missiles at Israel.
Ship hit by a projectile off coast of Qatar
A projectile hit a ship off the coast of Qatar on Thursday morning, authorities said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre reported the incident off Ras Laffan, an important natural gas supply point which had been repeatedly hit by Iranian fire overnight.
The UKMTO said the ship’s crew was safe.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the vessel had been deliberately targeted or potentially struck by falling debris as Qatar fired off missile interceptors at incoming Iranian barrages.
South Pars gas crucial for Iran
Attacking Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, which it shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, threatens electricity supplies in the Islamic Republic.
Some 80% of all power generated in Iran comes from natural gas, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
It also is used to supply household heating and cooking across the Islamic Republic.
That is why Iran responded with an aggressive series of attacks targeting gas fields and infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
From under repeated airstrikes by the US and Israel, as well as beneath state suppression, images of life in the Middle Eastern nation are starting to eke out. (Source: 1News)
Iran’s foreign minister lashes out at Macron
Iran’s foreign minister lashed out Thursday at French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments on Tehran attacking Qatar.
Macron early Thursday morning wrote he spoke with US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s emir over Iran’s attack.
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities,” Macron wrote on X.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, channeling Trump, called Macron’s comments “sad!”
“Macron has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” Araghchi wrote on X. “He did not condemn Israel when it blew up fuel storage in Tehran, exposing millions to toxins. His current “concern” didn’t follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities.”
Satellite images show damage to UAE air base
Satellite images show damage at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates after repeated Iranian attacks targeting the facility hosting American troops.
The images, taken Sunday by an Airbus Defence and Space’s Pléiades Neo satellite and analysed by The Associated Press, showed damage at one set of hangars to the northwest of the facility in Abu Dhabi.
Another hangar to the southeast of the facility appears shredded by fire, with an adjacent hangar sustaining roof damage.
It’s unclear what had been in the hangars.
Al Dhafra had hosted some 2000 US troops and has served as a major base of operations for everything from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters in recent years.
The US military for years only vaguely referred to Al Dhafra as a base in “southwest Asia” before the UAE became more willing to acknowledge the US presence there.