President Donald Trump on Truth Social said that the US was not aware of Israel's plans to strike the South Pars gas field in Iran. This comes amid the ongoing conflict, which saw Tehran launch a retaliatory strike on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is the largest LNG export facility in the world.
However, several media reports have contradicted Trump's claim.
“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. A relatively small section of the whole has been hit. 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 wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday.
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The president added “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.”
He then promised “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.”
{{/usCountry}}He then promised “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.”
{{/usCountry}}Trump further said “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.”
His statement was shared by the White House.
Reports contradict Trump's claim
Despite the president claiming that Israel acted alone in attacking Iran's key energy site and the US knew nothing about it, reports in the media have put forth contradicting accounts.
Reuters noted that Israeli media widely reported that the attack on the South Pars gas field was carried out with consent of the United States.
Meanwhile, Barak Ravid, who works for Axios, wrote on X that the US not only had prior knowledge of the attack but had greenlit it to ‘pressure’ Iran, and was ‘changing course’ after Iran retaliated.
“Contrary to Trump’s statements, senior Israeli and U.S. officials said that the United States had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike and even approved it in an attempt to pressure Iran,” the reported said.
The South Pars gas field is the world's largest natural gas field and is shared between Iran and Qatar.