Washington DC [US], March 20 : US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against striking Iran's South Pars Gas Field, amid escalating tensions in the Gulf region.
On being asked if he had a conversation with Israeli PM about attacking the oil and gas fields, President Trump said, "Yeah, I did. I told him, don't do that. He won't do that."
However, he later said, "We didn't discuss. We're independent. We get along great. It's coordinated. But on occasion, he'll do something. And if I don't like it, so we're not doing that anymore."
The remarks come after Iran launched ballistic missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, targeting what the world's largest liquefaction facility is. The attacks reportedly caused extensive damage to QatarEnergy's LNG facilities and the Pearl GTL Gas-to-Liquids plant, prompting emergency response teams to contain fires with no reported casualties.
Earlier, in a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump said that Washington had no knowledge of the attack, claiming Israel for "acted out of anger" striking at Iran's South Pars Gas Field which resulted in retaliation from Tehran.
In a sharply worded statement shared on Truth Social, the US President said, "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."
He said the US and Qatar were not aware of the attacks and stated that Israel would not target the South Pars Field unless Iran decides to attack Qatar again. He said that Washington would not be afraid of authorising destruction and violence on Tehran if Qatar's energy facilities are targeted again.
Meanwhile, Qatar has declared the military and security attaches at the Iranian Embassy, along with their staff, "persona non grata" and has requested that they leave the country within 24 hours, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.