U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Israel would make no more attacks on Iran’s major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.
Trump made his threat on social media Wednesday night as the war roiled global energy markets and Iranian missiles hit Qatar.
The United States was informed about plans for an Israeli strike on Iran’s massive offshore South Pars natural gas field Wednesday but did not take part in it, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is escalating pressure on the region's energy sector, the price of oil surged another 5% to over $108 a barrel on international markets, increasing the cost of gasoline and other goods while squeezing the global economy.
Global oil prices rose on news of the Pars field attack due to fears of Iranian retaliation on Gulf energy infrastructure. Hours later, 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 neighbors’ energy facilities since the war started on Feb. 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 have also been firing drones and missiles at Israel.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 960 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
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 center 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 if 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.
Latest reports of live fire
Mobile phone alerts sounded Thursday morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, warning of incoming Iranian missile fire.
Kuwait said it shot down Iranian drones incoming to the oil-rich Mideast nation early Thursday morning.
Latest reports of live fire
Israel warned the public of another Iranian missile salvo early Thursday morning.
Bahrain sounded its missile sirens early Thursday over an incoming Iranian attack.
Trump threatens to blow up South Pars gas field if Iran attacks Qatar again
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Israel would make no more attacks on Iran’s major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again, the U.S. would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.
Trump made his threat on social media Wednesday night as the war roiled global energy markets and Iranian missiles hit Qatar.
Trump said in his post that the U.S. “knew nothing” about the attack, but a person familiar with the matter said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. was informed about Israel’s plans to strike the gas field but did not take part.
Trump said Qatar “was in no way, shape, or form, involved” in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s gas field, but, “Unfortunately, Iran did not know this” and “unjustifiably and unfairly” attacked Qatar.
“I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran,” Trump said in his threat.
He added that he would “not hesitate to do so,” if Qatar’s liquified natural gas sites were attacked again.
Australia’s leader condemns ‘reckless’ Iran reprisals
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Iran’s ‘reckless’ reprisal attacks in the Middle East.
“I’m deeply concerned by attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, including the latest overnight in Qatar,” Albanese told reporters in Hobart on Thursday. “We do not want to see the conflicts escalate further.”
Qatar says Iran missiles damage more liquefied natural gas sites
Qatar warned Thursday that additional Iranian missile attacks damaged more liquefied natural gas sites in the energy-rich nation, “causing sizable fires and extensive further damage.”
Qatar Energy, the nation’s state-owned oil and gas company, announced the damage.
It said firefighters were working to halt the blazes and no one had been hurt so far.
Qatar is a key source of natural gas for the world’s energy markets.
It already shut in its production earlier in the war, but extensive damage could delay Qatar in getting its supplies to the market after the Iran war ends.
Arab summit ends with renewed call for Iran to end attacks
A summit of Gulf Arab countries and others ended a meeting Thursday with a renewed, unified call for Iran to halt attacks on its neighbors.
A statement by the nations at the summit denounced “these deliberate Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, which targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic missions.”
“The participants emphasized that these attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way,” the statement said.
The nations represented at the summit were Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Analyst group calls gas field attack ‘clear expansion’ of war
A New York-based think tank, the Soufan Center, described Israel’s decision to attack the Iranian offshore natural gas field as “a clear expansion of the conflict.”
“Unlike oil storage depots that can be replenished and rebuilt on a shorter timeline, liquefied natural gas production facilities cannot be as easily ... repaired, especially against a backdrop of war,” the center said Thursday. “Extended timelines for repairs are a major blow to Iran’s economy, but above all else, they will be felt by Iranian civilians.
The center added, “Israel’s target selection in this war has heavily focused on the institutions, leaders and infrastructure within Iran that have been used for domestic repression, aiming to shape the conditions ripe for successful anti-regime mobilization by Iranians. It now seeks to inflict additional pressure on the regime by making the living conditions for civilians intolerable.”
Ship ablaze after attack off UAE
An attack set a ship ablaze early Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, authorities said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard.”
It said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas typically flows.
Over 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far as Tehran tries to squeeze shippers as part of its pressure campaign over the conflict.
US Senate vote on Iran war fails along familiar lines
U.S. Senate Democrats forced another vote on legislation that would have halted President Donald Trump from continuing the war with Iran without congressional approval, but the vote failed along familiar lines.
The vote breakdown was unchanged from last week on a similar war powers resolution.
Democrats forced this vote mostly to bring up another debate on the war and force the Senate for a couple hours officially off the topic of a GOP push to impose strict voter identification requirements.
Democrats are threatening to force more votes on the war unless Republicans agree to hold Cabinet-level hearings on the conflict.
Latest reports of live fire
Israel’s military warned the public early Thursday of an incoming Iranian missile attack.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister harshly criticizes Iran after overnight attacks
“What little trust there was before has completely been shattered,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after a meeting between foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab states and others over the Iranian attacks tearing at the wider Middle East.
“The attacks on my country and on my neighboring countries that are not involved in this conflict — that’s all I’m interested in,” Prince Faisal said. “We’re going to use every lever we have — political, economic, diplomatic and otherwise — to get these attacks to stop.”
He criticized Iran’s attacks on Riyadh, the capital hosting the meeting.
“I cannot see it as coincidental,” he said. “That’s the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy. … It tries to pressure its neighbors, and that’s not going to work.”
UAE says Iran attacks targeting key gas sites are a ‘dangerous escalation’
The United Arab Emirates early Thursday denounced Iran’s attacks targeting its Habshan gas facility and Bab field as a “dangerous escalation.”
Authorities in Abu Dhabi say the gas operations had been shut down after interceptions over the sites.
Iran also had attacked gas facilities in Qatar after Israel launched an attack against Iran’s South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf that it shares with Doha, Qatar’s capital.
Saudi Arabia also reported downing Iranian drones targeting its natural gas facilities overnight.
Source: AP/UNB