President Trump has publicly distanced the US from Israel’s strike on Iran’s largest gas field, which took place on Wednesday night.
The IDF confirmed that it was responsible for the attack on the South Pars field, which is responsible for more than 70 per cent of the Islamic Republic’s domestic gas supply.
The attack marked the first time in the war that the IDF has targeted gas infrastructure in the country.
Israel confirmed last night that it was responsible for a strike on the major South Pars gas field in southern Iran.
The attack marked the first time in the war that the IDF has targeted gas infrastructure in the Islamic Republic.
Iranian state media also reported bombardment at oil production facilities in Asaluyeh.
In response, Tehran said it would retaliate against energy infrastructure in the region, which it has been striking periodically in recent weeks anyway.
Within hours, the civil defence agency in Qatar confirmed the outbreak of a fire at a gas production plant in Ras Laffan following a fresh Iranian attack.
The fire was quickly brought under control before it could cause widespread damage, the agency added.
A US defence official reportedly told Axios that the Israeli strike was approved by the White House as part of a coordinated mission.
However, in the wake of the attack on Ras Laffan, President Trump denied Washington’s involvement, while warning Tehran that further aggression against Qatar would trigger devastating strikes on South Pars.
He wrote on social media: "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.
"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."
But he added that "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".
If this did happen, he went on, the US would "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".
Asked about Trump’s statement, Alex Gandler, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London, told the BBC’s Today programme: “There is no daylight between Israel and the United States with regard to this war.
"I’m not going to be the one to interpret the words of President Trump, but I can tell you this: we are very much aligned on most or all of our goals...we want the same thing.”
Meanwhile, a key adviser to the UAE's government has suggested that Iran's revenge attacks could actually push Arab states into closer relations with Israel.
"Iran’s full-throttle attack on the Gulf states will actually strengthen the Israeli role in the Gulf, will not diminish it," said Anwar Gargash at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations.
"For countries that have relations with Israel, this is — you know, this relationship, in my opinion, will be even more strengthened.
"For countries that don’t have, I expect… that more channels will be open."
Nonetheless, both sets of strikes are likely to exacerbate price instability in the energy markets, with both oil and gas prices up significantly compared to before the war, which is set to filter into consumer prices in the coming months.
Gas prices in the UK, which dictate the level of the energy price cap, surged by 25 per cent in the wake of the strikes, while, as of Thursday morning, oil was trading at $113 per barrel, up from $73 last month.
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