US President Donald Trump said an angry Israel had “violently lashed out” by striking Iran’s major gas facility, marking a significant escalation in the US-Israeli conflict, but said no further such attacks would occur unless Iran retaliated, reports RTE.
The strike on the vast South Pars gas field pushed oil prices higher and led Iran to threaten attacks on oil and gas infrastructure across the Gulf, while it also launched missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia, reports RTE.
The escalation has intensified already severe disruption to global energy supplies, raising political pressure on Mr Trump, who joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran nearly four weeks ago.
Qatar’s state energy company, Qatar Energy, reported “extensive damage” after Iranian missiles struck Ras Laffan Industrial City, which handles about one-fifth of the world’s gas supply, reports RTE.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh, as well as a drone targeting a gas facility in the country’s east.
Iran again targeted gas facilities in Qatar, while missiles were also directed at the Saudi capital, reports RTE.
Qatar Energy reported “sizeable fires” and major damage at several liquefied natural gas facilities hit in missile strikes earlier today.
Mr Trump said the United States had no prior knowledge of Israel’s attack and added that Qatar was not involved, reports RTE.
“Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran,” Mr Trump posted on X.
“Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, 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,”, reports RTE.
“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,”, reports RTE.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Trump had approved Israel’s plan to strike Iran’s natural gas field.
South Pars forms part of the world’s largest natural gas reserve, shared between Iran and Qatar, a close US ally and host to the largest American military base in the Gulf, reports RTE.
Since the conflict began, Tehran has targeted not only Israel but also US diplomatic and military sites across the Gulf, warning neighbouring countries against facilitating attacks on Iran.
With no sign of de-escalation, Mr Trump is considering deploying thousands more US troops to the Middle East, according to a US official and sources familiar with the plans, reports RTE.
These forces could be tasked with ensuring safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for about a fifth of global oil trade.
Iranian missile strikes have killed three Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank and a foreign worker in central Israel, according to medics, reports RTE.
Falling debris hit a hair salon in the West Bank town of Beit Awa near Hebron, killing the three women, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, marking the first Palestinian fatalities from Iranian attacks in the ongoing conflict.
The Red Crescent said at least eight others were injured, including one woman in critical condition, reports RTE.
Shortly afterward, Israeli medics said a man had been killed in central Israel by Iranian missile fire, bringing the death toll in Israel during the war to 15.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service described the victim as a “foreign worker”, with local reports identifying him as a Thai agricultural worker, reports RTE.
He was killed in Moshav Adanim, about 20km northeast of Tel Aviv and less than 8km from the West Bank, according to the service.
A statement from Magen David Adom quoted medic Idan Shina as saying “metal shrapnel was scattered across the scene”, where the man was found dead with “severe shrapnel injuries”, reports RTE.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had detected a round of missile launches from Iran and was working to intercept them.
Since then, multiple further waves of Iranian attacks have been reported, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central and northern Israel, as well as in West Bank settlements, reports RTE.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched missiles and drones at targets across Israel, according to statements carried by Iranian news agencies.
Iran and Israel have previously accused each other of deploying cluster munitions, reports RTE.
Foreign ministers from six Islamic countries meeting in Riyadh condemned Iran’s strikes on Gulf states and called for an immediate halt.
Iran’s targeting of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, airports, and desalination plants, could not be justified under any circumstances, the ministers said in a statement, reports RTE.
“This pressure from Iran will backfire politically and morally and certainly we reserve the right to take military actions, if deemed necessary,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a press conference after the meeting, reports RTE.
Interceptors were seen launched near the Riyadh hotel hosting the conference as ministers gathered for discussions on the Iran conflict.
The UAE shut down its Habshan gas facility after intercepting missiles in what its foreign ministry described as a “terrorist attack” by Iran, reports RTE.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran since US-Israeli strikes began on 28 February, according to estimates from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Authorities in Lebanon said 900 people have been killed there and 800,000 displaced from their homes, reports RTE.
Iranian attacks have also caused deaths in Iraq and across Gulf states, while at least 13 US military personnel have been killed during the conflict, reports RTE.
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