Washington, D.C. [US], March 19 (ANI): After the world’s largest liquefaction facility in Qatar was subjected to missile strikes by Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said Washington had no prior knowledge of the attack, claiming Israel had “acted out of anger” by striking Iran’s South Pars Gas Field, which led to retaliation from Tehran.
In a sharply worded statement shared on Truth Social, Trump 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 United States and Qatar were not aware of the attack and stated that Israel would not target the South Pars field again unless Iran decides to attack Qatar. Trump warned that Washington would not hesitate to authorize massive retaliation against Tehran if Qatar’s energy facilities are targeted again.
“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. 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 — 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. 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.
His remarks came after Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City was hit by ballistic missiles from Iran, resulting in extensive damage, according to the country’s Ministry of Defence. The attack marked the second strike within 12 hours on the world’s largest liquefaction facility.
According to QatarEnergy, several of its LNG facilities were also targeted by Iranian missile attacks following the strike on Ras Laffan.
“In addition to the previous attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday that resulted in extensive damage to the Pearl GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility, QatarEnergy confirms that in the early hours of Thursday, several of its liquefied natural gas facilities were the subject of missile attacks, causing sizable fires and further extensive damage. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting damage, with no reported casualties,” the company stated.
Meanwhile, Qatar has declared the military and security attachés 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 Thursday. (ANI)
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