U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday stateside warned that if Iran continued targeting Qatar’s energy facilities, America would “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field.”
Tehran had attacked a key energy facility in Qatar after Israel bombed the South Pars Gas Field in Iran, signaling a sharp escalation in the conflict and sending energy prices soaring.
Trump denied any prior knowledge of Israel attacking South Pars, pushing back against reports that the strike was coordinated with and approved by his administration.
In a social media post, Trump said that “the United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen.”
Trump also urged Israel to end attacks on the South Pars gas field, unless Iran “unwisely” decides to attack Qatar. In that case, the U.S. will “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
South Pars is the largest known reserve of natural gas in the world at around 1,800 trillion cubic feet. It is also Iran’s biggest source of energy supply, so any attack could disrupt critical services in the country such as electricity.
Iran fired ballistic missiles at Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday, with QatarEnergy saying the attack had caused “extensive damage” warranting deployment of emergency response teams to contain fires at the site. No casualties were reported. Ras Laffan is home to the largest liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export facility in the world.
Those attacks have continued with state-owned QatarEnergy saying that several of its LNG facilities were struck by missiles in the early hours of Thursday, causing significant fires and extensive damage, prompting emergency response to contain the damage.
Separately, Reuters reported Thursday that the U.S. government was considering deploying thousands of U.S. forces to the Middle East, raising the prospect of further escalation.
As tensions spiral, world leaders are scrambling to contain the Middle East conflict amid fears of deepening the turmoil in global energy markets.
Europe calls for de-escalation
The attack on South Pars — the world’s largest natural gas reserve, shared between Iran and Qatar — marked the first time Israel targeted Iranian natural gas production infrastructure since the conflict began on Feb. 28.
Following phone calls with the emir of Qatar and Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate halt to targeting civilian infrastructure.
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities,” he said in a post on X on Thursday.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday warned of a “crisis of the gravest order” if global supply chains continued to be disrupted, calling for a path toward de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities once U.S. and Israeli military objectives are achieved, according to local media reports.
Gulf states sound alarm
The United Arab Emirates called the targeting of energy facilities linked to the South Pars field in Iran a “serious escalation,” posing “a direct threat to global energy security” with severe environmental repercussions.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called Iran’s targeting of its Habshan gas facility and Bab field a “terrorist attack,” risking a “dangerous escalation.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, described the Israeli strike on South Pars as “a dangerous and irresponsible step” amid escalating regional tensions.
The Gulf nation has declared Iranian military and security attachés and their staff at the Iranian Embassy in Doha “persona non grata,” ordering them to leave the country within 24 hours.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, also appeared to toughen the tone, reportedly saying that “what little trust there was before with Iran has completely been shattered.” Both political and nonpolitical responses to Iran remain on the table, he added.
Iran vows retaliation
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday threatened to escalate hostilities, warning to target oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
In a post on X, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, condemned the strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, saying they “could have uncontrollable consequences, the scope of which could engulf the entire world.”
The attacks on Middle East energy production facilities have further deepened supply disruption triggered by the conflict. Brent crude May futures rose 4% to $111.77 a barrel as of 10:25 p.m. ET , while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April climbed over 1.3% to $97.56 per barrel.
Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a vital choke point for one-fifth of global oil supply and a significant share of LNG exports — has plunged since the war began, with the waterway effectively closed to most commercial shipping.
Source: CNBC