US President Trump distances country from Israeli strikes on Iranian gasfield

US President Donald Trump has made statements regarding a recent Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield in Bushehr province. According to reports, the US had “nothing to do” with the attack, which was followed by Iranian missile strikes on energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump stated that Israel had “violently lashed out” at the facility and promised it would not reoccur if Iran refrains from attacking Qatar. He also claimed that the US knew nothing about the attack and that Qatar was unaware of its impending strike.

US officials have reportedly confirmed that Trump approved of Israel’s plan to attack South Pars, which is a shared sector between Iran and Qatar. The strike on the gasfield has raised questions about whether the Israelis informed the US of their plans beforehand.

The attack on South Pars marked the first time in the current conflict that a site directly linked to fossil fuel production had been targeted, rather than broader oil and gas infrastructure. Analysts have suggested that such facilities were previously spared to limit the risk of retaliatory strikes across the region.

Iran has pledged to strike energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in response to the Israeli attack. The latest escalation has fueled concerns about the conflict expanding into the energy sector, with potentially far-reaching economic consequences globally.

Source: Al Jazeera