WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Tehran following Iranian strikes on Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. Trump clarified that Israel’s recent attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field was a unilateral action taken “out of anger” and that the United States had no prior knowledge of the operation. He emphasized that Qatar was in no way involved in or aware of the Israeli strike, calling Iran’s retaliatory hit on Qatari soil “unjustified and unfair.”
The President pledged that Israel would cease further attacks on the South Pars field, provided that Iran refrains from targeting Qatar. However, he issued a massive ultimatum: should Iran “unwisely” decide to strike the innocent nation of Qatar again, the United States will intervene directly. Trump stated that the U.S., with or without Israeli assistance, would “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field” using a level of force that Iran has never witnessed before. The South Pars field is a critical energy asset shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
Qatar’s Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that the country was targeted by five ballistic missiles launched from Iran. While the Qatari armed forces successfully intercepted four of the incoming projectiles, one missile struck Ras Laffan Industrial City, sparking a significant fire. Civil Defense teams were immediately deployed to the site to contain the blaze.
QatarEnergy confirmed that the attack caused “extensive damage” to the industrial site, which is a critical hub for the country’s gas production. This strike follows a warning from Tehran regarding “decisive action” after reports that Israeli strikes hit Iran’s South Pars gas field. Although the infrastructure sustained damage, emergency response teams are working to stabilize the situation, and there have been no immediate reports of casualties. (Iranintl, BBC, NDTV)
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