DONALD Trump has warned the US will “massively blow up” Iran’s biggest gas field as oil prices rocket amid a spiralling Middle East energy war.
Gas prices have exploded by 35 per cent after Iran launched attacks on the world’s biggest LNG plant, sending shockwaves through global markets.
Europe’s benchmark gas price rocketed to €74 per megawatt hour on Thursday – more than double pre-conflict levels – while Brent crude surged more than 5 per cent to above $113 a barrel overnight.
The surge came as Iran escalated its retaliatory strikes, hammering Qatar’s critical Ras Laffan LNG export hub and causing “extensive damage”.
The strikes saw a furious Donald Trump issue a chilling ultimatum after Tehran’s missiles hammered a key Qatari energy hub.
In a late-night Truth Social post, he wrote: “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.”
Read more on the Iran war
Trump insisted America was not involved in the Israeli strike, adding: “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.”
But Iran hit back anyway, and paid the price diplomatically.
“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,” Trump said.
In a blunt warning, the president wrote: “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.
It comes as…
“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.”
Trump made clear he wants to avoid escalation, but won’t hesitate.
“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,” he added.
The stark warning comes as global energy markets go into meltdown, with the Middle East spiralling deeper into an all-out energy war.
Brent crude surged by about 7 per cent on Thursday morning, blasting past $114 a barrel and nearing highs not seen since the conflict erupted in late February.
European benchmark gas prices also surged by around 20 per cent as fears grow that the conflict is now directly choking global energy supplies.
Prices spiked after Iran’s missile strikes hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas hub, sparking fires and causing “extensive” damage to one of the world’s most important energy facilities.
Tehran launched revenge strikes across the region on Wednesday night after Israel hit the vast South Pars field.
The site is responsible for around three-quarters of Iran’s gas production.
At least one missile slammed into Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone – home to the world’s biggest LNG processing plant – causing “extensive damage” and sparking a major fire.
Furious Qatari officials branded the strike a “flagrant violation and direct threat to national security”, and kicked out Iranian diplomats, giving them just 24 hours to leave.
Saudi Arabia was also targeted, with ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh.
Air defences shot them down, but falling debris injured four civilians and sent panic through the capital.
The rogue regime had earlier vowed to “severely strike” energy infrastructure across the region, threatening to cripple global supplies.
Oil markets were rocked, with prices surging towards $110 a barrel as fears of a wider energy crisis gripped the world.
Tehran even warned oil workers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar to evacuate, declaring energy sites “legitimate targets”.
The chaos comes after US and Israeli forces hammered Iranian military sites, including missile bases threatening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued to take out top Iranian figures, killing intelligence minister Esmail Khatib in the latest strike.
And Mossad spies have been dialling up Iranian police and security officials with blunt ultimatums to either abandon the regime or face the same fate as its flailing leaders.
Israel is attempting to make the officers defect and help fuel an uprising within Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The calls, reviewed by the WSJ, are part of a wider Israeli scheme aimed at cracking Iran‘s brutal security machine from the inside.
