Iran says it will show ‘zero restraint’ if energy infrastructure is targeted again | US-Israel war on Iran

Iran said on Thursday it would show “zero restraint” if its energy infrastructure was targeted again, after Qatar revealed that almost a fifth of its liquefied natural gas export capacity had been disabled in an Iranian attack that would last for years.

The warning, made by Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, came after Israel attacked the giant South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar; This attack triggered retaliatory attacks by Iran on Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas complex and other Gulf neighbors, leading to a global crash in stock markets and sharp increases in gas prices.

Ras Laffan provides approximately 20% of the world’s natural gas. Israel also confirmed on Thursday that the Bazan Group refinery in Haifa was hit and damaged in an alleged Iranian attack.

In a post published on “ZERO restrictions if our infrastructures get hit again.”

Amid warnings of an unprecedented energy crisis and a growing sense of panic in global capitals, Israeli officials rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that his attacks on the gas field were not coordinated with Washington, and Trump requested an additional $200 billion from Congress for his war.

On Thursday, Trump reiterated his denial, saying he told Netanyahu not to attack Iranian gas fields again but could not explain the logic of how he felt the junior partner in the wartime military alliance could act unilaterally with such internationally damaging consequences.

“I told you [Netanyahu]Trump told reporters as he met with the Japanese prime minister: “We get along very well. It’s a coordinated job, but occasionally he’ll do something that the United States opposes,” Trump added.

He also suggested that he would not send ground troops to Iran, even though 2,000 Marines have been deployed to the region.

These comments follow a report from Reuters that the US military is considering deploying thousands of US troops to strengthen its operation in the Middle East as it prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran.

Sources said that these options include ensuring the safe passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, and that this task will be carried out primarily through air and naval forces. But securing the strait could also mean deploying US troops along the Iranian coastline.

At the heart of the growing concern, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement expressing their “deep concern” about the escalating conflict and “calling on Iran to immediately cease its threats, mine-laying, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to close the strait to commercial shipping” and to comply with UN Security Council resolution 2817.

He added that they are ready to contribute to the necessary efforts to ensure safe passage through the Bosphorus. [of Hormuz]”, he warned: “The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people around the world, especially the most vulnerable.”

Brent crude oil, the global oil reference, rose by 10 percent at one point to $119 per barrel, then fell by 3.3 percent to $110 per barrel. Crude oil prices have increased by 60 percent since February 28, when the US-Israeli war against Iran began.

Gas prices in Europe and the UK also jumped, rising as much as 24% before falling back. They have more than doubled since before the war.

Stock markets were shaken under a heavy selling wave as sharp declines in the Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong markets filtered into Europe. Britain’s FTSE 100 index closed at 10,063 points, down 2.35%; Similar decreases were seen in Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC indices.

Airlines said the increase in fuel prices would increase fares and urged passengers to book early. Long-haul airlines such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have said they will add more flights via Asia as carriers’ hubs in the Gulf are either closed or operating at reduced levels.

Faced with the risk of the war spiraling wildly out of control, Trump and his officials continued to deliver chaotic messages despite Reuters quoting unnamed Israeli officials suggesting the gas field attack was unlikely to be repeated.

Iranian attacks also hit Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea refinery, located at the end of the pipeline crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and two oil refineries in Kuwait.

QatarEnergy’s chief executive, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said there was around $20 billion in damage to its facilities and repairs would suspend 12.8 million tonnes of gas annually for three to five years, threatening supplies to some European countries.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that Qatar, Qatar and the region would be subjected to such an attack from a brother Muslim country, especially during Ramadan, and that it would attack us in this way,” Kaabi said.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said his country did not rule out military intervention in response to the attacks. But most analysts said there was still widespread reluctance among Gulf states, even in Saudi Arabia, to get involved in Trump’s conflict.

“I hope everyone will come to their senses,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in Brussels, drawing attention to the potential long-term impact of infrastructure attacks on global markets and calling for a moratorium on such attacks as well as attacks on civilians.

Macron’s comments reflected growing alarm over the US-Israeli war, which has seen Iran block traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and expand the scope of attacks on key energy infrastructure in the region.

Israeli officials’ insistence that Trump was briefed on the South Pars attack comes amid conflicting messages from Washington that suggest Trump is seeking a way to deflect the latest dangerous tensions in Israel, even as he threatens to bomb the site himself.

The struggle to find a coherent message has extended to key Trump officials offering starkly contradictory messages; The US treasury secretary suggested on Fox that the US lift oil sanctions on some Iranian cargoes currently at sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered his own warning to Iran in belligerent language.

“Our goals, given directly by America’s first president, remain exactly as they were on day one,” Hegseth told reporters. “These are not media goals, not Iran’s goals, not new goals. Our goals: unchanged, on target and planned,” Hegseth added.

“The world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even some sections of our own press, must say one thing to President Trump: thank you,” Hegseth said. “Thank you for your courage in preventing this terrorist state from taking the world hostage with missiles while they are making or trying to make a nuclear bomb. Thank you for doing the job of the free world.”

He accused the press of trying to convince the American public that it was “spinning towards an endless abyss, an endless war or a quagmire.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

Additional reporting by Graeme Wearden