U.S. officials face growing concern about Iran war escalating amid energy facility attacks
Iran’s continued attacks on oil and gas facilities around the Persian Gulf on Thursday increased the effects of the war on global energy supplies; President Trump has scolded Israel for attacking a key Iranian gas field, and other countries have expressed growing fears that the conflict will spiral out of control.
Saudi Arabia has said it may respond with force if Iran continues to attack facilities in the kingdom and oil prices skyrocket once again.
Trump said Israel acted “in anger” and without the knowledge of the United States when it attacked the “extremely important and valuable” South Pars Field, the world’s largest natural gas field. Writing on social media, Trump said there would be “NO MORE ATTACKS” if Iran did not continue to strike liquefied natural gas fields in Qatar.
However, Trump wrote that if Iran’s attacks continue, the United States will “massively blow up the entire South Pars Gas Field with a force and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
The president’s remarks come as Iran’s intensifying attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure are further shocking and angering America’s allies in the region and sending shockwaves through the global economy. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose to $118 per barrel; This represents an increase of over 60% since the beginning of the conflict.
The attacks further threatened global energy supplies, which were already being eroded by Iran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally moves.
Despite repeated assurances from Trump and other US leaders that the United States was rapidly destroying Iran’s mine-laying, missile and drone capabilities in the region, Iran’s attacks on the vital waterway have continued; One ship was set on fire off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and another was damaged off the coast of Qatar.
On the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, in the Red Sea, a Saudi refinery designed to bypass the strait was hit by an Iranian drone.
The attacks also increased uncertainty about the Trump administration’s understanding of the course, scope and timeline of the conflict.
Trump has made contradictory statements about the strait in recent days. He asked his allies to help protect the strait, but after the allies rejected his call, he said the United States did not help.
He reiterated that message at an event with Japanese leaders at the White House on Thursday, saying it would be “appropriate” but unnecessary for European countries, Japan and other U.S. allies to help defend the strait. “We don’t need anything,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on the administration’s repeated claims in previous statements Thursday that the war was going perfectly as planned and that the United States was not at risk of entering another “endless war” or Middle East quagmire.
Hegseth said US officials “will not want to set a definitive time frame” on the war’s completion, adding that the American people should ignore all “noise” about the “expansion” of the conflict.
However, he spoke as the noise turned into a chorus in the face of Iran’s latest attacks.
Speaking ahead of the European Union summit, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned what he called the “reckless” escalation of the conflict and called for negotiations.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit described Iran’s attacks on Gulf infrastructure as a “dangerous escalation.” Officials in Abu Dhabi, UAE, used the same expression to describe Iran’s attacks on some energy facilities overnight.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday that trust between his government and Tehran had been “completely shattered”, adding that Riyadh “reserves the right to take military action if necessary”.
“The kingdom and its partners possess significant capabilities, and the patience we have shown is not unlimited,” he said after a meeting of foreign ministers in Riyadh. He did not specify when his patience would run out.
The kingdom’s air defenses have captured at least 457 drones, 40 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. At the same time, the UAE shot down 1,714 drones, 334 missiles and 15 cruise missiles, according to Emirati officials.
State-owned QatarEnergy in Qatar said that the fire at the Ras Laffan LNG facility, the world’s largest LNG export facility and where production has already been stopped, caught fire after an attack by Iranian missiles and caused “major” damage.
In Kuwait, the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the largest in the Middle East, and the nearby Mina Abdullah refinery caught fire after drone attacks, officials said.
In Israel, millions of people flocked to shelters as a wave of more than half a dozen attacks by Iran targeted large parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Hegseth said the United States is preparing to deliver the “largest strike package ever” against Iran on Thursday. He said the military would ask Congress for billions more dollars to continue the war because “it takes money to kill the bad guys.”
Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday, citing four unnamed sources, that the Trump administration is considering sending thousands of US troops to Iran.
In response, a White House official told The Times that no decision has been made to send ground troops to Iran, but that Trump is keeping all his options open to achieve his goals in Iran, including destroying its ballistic missile capabilities and ensuring it cannot develop nuclear weapons.
The United States took steps to stabilize the oil market on Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States could soon lift sanctions on about 140 million barrels of Iranian oil currently “in the water” on tankers, which should provide supplies to the market and curb price increases. “Depending on how you count, that’s 10 days to two weeks of supply,” Bessent said.
The administration is also considering another unilateral statement from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to push prices even lower as U.S. reserves have fallen to their lowest levels since the 1980s.
Lifting sanctions would serve as a major financial lifeline to the Iranian government, allowing Tehran to generate billions in revenue that it could use to fund its ongoing fight against the United States and Israel.
Iran has threatened additional retaliation if its energy infrastructures are further attacked; A spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the response to future attacks would be “much harsher.”
“We warn the enemy that you are making a big mistake by attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by Iran’s ISNA news agency.
“If repeated once again, the next attacks on your and your allies’ energy infrastructures will not stop until they are completely destroyed,” the statement said.
Israel’s attack on South Pars, which directly threatens Iran’s electricity supply, marks a “clear expansion of the conflict,” the New York-based Soufan Center said in a research note.
“Israel’s selection of targets in this war focused heavily on institutions, leaders and infrastructure,” the think tank said. “He is now looking for ways to put additional pressure on the regime by making living conditions for civilians intolerable.”
Amid the tension, Gulf leaders have also expressed growing dissatisfaction with Washington.
On Wednesday, Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi, a central figure in negotiations between the United States and Iran, called the war a “disaster” and said the Trump administration’s “greatest miscalculation” was “allowing itself to be drawn into this war.”
Albusaidi added that Iran’s retaliation against the Gulf states “is an inevitable outcome, albeit extremely regrettable and completely unacceptable” that is “probably the only rational option available” for the Iranian leadership facing an existential war.
“America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth,” he said. “This is an uncomfortable truth to say because it involves demonstrating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy. But it needs to be said.”
Rector reported from Colorado and Bulos from Beirut. Staff Writer Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this story.
