US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against targeting South Pars Gas Field, as tensions intensified across the Gulf region following a series of retaliatory strikes.
Responding to a question on whether he had discussed potential strikes on oil and gas infrastructure with Netanyahu, Trump said, “Yeah, I did. I told him, don’t do that. He won’t do that.”
He later appeared to strike a slightly different note, saying, “We didn’t discuss. We’re independent. We get along great. It’s coordinated. But on occasion, he’ll do something. And if I don’t like it, so we’re not doing that anymore.”
The remarks come after Iran launched ballistic missile strikes on Ras Laffan Industrial City, targeting what is considered the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility. The attack reportedly caused significant damage to QatarEnergy’s LNG infrastructure and the Pearl GTL Gas-to-Liquids plant, with emergency teams deployed to contain fires. No casualties were reported.
US Was Unaware, Says Trump
Earlier, in a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said Washington had no prior knowledge of the developments and attributed the escalation to Israeli actions.
“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,” he said.
Trump added that neither the United States nor Qatar had advance information about the strike. He also suggested that Israel would refrain from targeting the South Pars facility unless Iran escalates further by attacking Qatari energy infrastructure again.
He warned that Washington would not hesitate to respond forcefully if Qatar’s facilities are targeted in the future.
Meanwhile, Qatar has declared military and security attachés at the Iranian Embassy, along with their staff, as “persona non grata” and has asked them to leave the country within 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
