After Tehran strikes, Trump says Israel won't attack Iran gas fields anymore
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President Trump at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump said Wednesday that Israel will not conduct further attacks on Iran's main natural gas facility.
Why it matters: Trump's comments that seem to be an effort to de-escalate the situation came hours after he green-lit the Israeli strike on the facility that marked a significant escalation in the war.
Driving the news: The Israeli Air Force struck a natural gas processing facility in southwestern Iran on Wednesday.
- The attack on the South Pars gas field was the first time Israel has struck natural gas facilities in Iran, which are key to Iran's economy.
- Israeli and U.S. officials said the strike was coordinated with and approved by the White House.
- Several hours later, the Iranian military conducted two missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City and hit natural gas facilities, QatarEnergy said in a statement. It noted there was "extensive damage," but no immediate reports of casualties.
Behind the scenes: After the first Iranian missile strike, Qatari officials contacted White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CENTCOM commanders and other senior Trump administration officials and demanded to know whether the U.S. had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
- Witkoff conducted numerous calls with Qatari officials in an effort to organize an urgent call between Trump and the emir of Qatar, the source said.
Between the lines: An hour after the second Iranian missile attack on the Qatari gas field, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Israeli forces "violently lashed out" and conducted the strike on the Iranian gas field "out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East."
- He claimed "the United States knew nothing about this particular attack" and stressed Qatar "was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen."
- Trump's remarks were inaccurate, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
- While Qatar didn't know about the Israeli strike in advance, Trump did, the officials said.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump coordinated about the strike and the aim was to try and deter Iran from continuing to disrupt oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli officials said.
What he's saying: Trump wrote Iran did not know that Qatar was not involved in the attack on its gas field, "and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar's LNG Gas facility."
- He added: "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 Qatar."
- Trump threatened that if Iran attacks Qatar again, the U.S. "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".
- Trump stressed he doesn't want to take actions that will have long-term implications on the future of Iran, "but if Qatar's LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so."
