US Pres. Donald Trump. Photo courtesy of Anadolu.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel will not strike Iran’s South Pars gas field again unless Tehran retaliates, while warning that another attack on Qatar’s liquefied natural gas infrastructure could trigger a massive US response.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the United States was unaware of the recent strike on South Pars and that Qatar had no involvement or prior knowledge of the attack.
He described the Israeli action as a “violent lash out” targeting only a small portion of the field and said Iran had “unjustifiably” struck part of Qatar’s LNG facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Trump warned that any further damage to Qatar’s LNG infrastructure could prompt the US to destroy the entire South Pars Gas Field, with or without Israeli participation, at an unprecedented scale.
He added that he prefers to avoid authorizing such destruction due to long-term consequences for Iran, but would act if necessary.
An Israeli airstrike hit the Iranian side of South Pars on Wednesday, halting production at two major refineries.
Qatar reported two missile attacks on Ras Laffan, its main LNG hub, prompting the country to declare Iranian military and security personnel at its embassy persona non grata.
The regional conflict has intensified since a joint US-Israel offensive on Iran on February 28, which killed roughly 1,300 people. Iran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military bases.