US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said the United States had no prior information about the strike on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field, distancing Washington from the escalation that has now drawn in Qatar’s key energy infrastructure.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump suggested that Israel carried out the strike on South Pars “out of anger” over recent developments in the region. He added that only a limited portion of the large gas field had been hit.
“Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as the South Pars Gas Field in Iran. A relatively small section of the whole has been hit.”
The comments come at a time when tensions in West Asia have sharply intensified, with missile strikes now hitting critical energy facilities in both Iran and Qatar, raising concerns over global fuel supply and wider regional fallout.
Trump also said that neither the US nor Qatar had any role in the attack, and claimed that Iran acted without full knowledge of the situation when it retaliated. He warned that Israel would refrain from targeting the South Pars field again unless Iran chose to escalate further by attacking Qatar.
At the same time, the US President issued a strong warning to Tehran. He said Washington would respond with overwhelming force if Qatar’s energy assets were targeted again, even if it meant acting independently.
“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. Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar’s LNG Gas facility. NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar – In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, 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. I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Missile strikes hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan, LNG facilities damaged
The remarks followed reports from Qatar’s Ministry of Defence that ballistic missiles fired by Iran struck Ras Laffan Industrial City, causing significant damage. The attack marks the second such strike within 12 hours on what is considered the world’s largest liquefaction hub.
QatarEnergy later confirmed that multiple LNG installations were also hit in subsequent attacks early Thursday, leading to fires and further destruction. Emergency teams were deployed to control the situation, and no casualties have been reported so far.
“In addition to the previous attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday that resulted in extensive damage to the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility, QatarEnergy confirms that in the early hours of Thursday, several of its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities were the subject of missile attacks, causing sizeable fires and extensive further damage. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting damage with no reported casualties,” it stated.
In response, Qatar has taken diplomatic action against Iran. The country has declared military and security officials at the Iranian Embassy persona non grata and asked them to leave within 24 hours, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.