German media: Israeli air strike on Iranian gas fields, Tehran retaliates against Persian Gulf neighbors

After Israel attacked a major Iranian gas field, energy facilities of Persian Gulf neighbors such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have been subjected to retaliatory attacks by Iran. Trump stated that the United States had no prior knowledge of Israel's attack, but also warned that if Iran continues to retaliate against other countries, its gas facilities would be completely destroyed.

At 03:19 on March 19, Iranian missiles again attacked industrial facilities in the northern coastal areas of Qatar. State-owned QatarEnergy stated that the liquefied natural gas facilities in Ras Laffan were attacked, causing large-scale fires and "more serious damage," but no casualties were reported. Several hours before this attack, the facility had already suffered an aerial attack, causing "severe damage."

The Qatari Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Ras Laffan was attacked by ballistic missiles, but did not disclose the number of incoming missiles or the number intercepted by the air defense system. The Qatari Ministry of Interior stated, "The civil defense department of the Ras Laffan industrial area has fully controlled all fires, and there are no reports of casualties. Currently, cooling and on-site security measures are still ongoing."

Previously, Iranian state media had announced that Qatar's Ras Laffan energy facilities would be the target of an attack, in response to Israel's aerial attack on the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf waters. The South Pars gas field located in Iranian waters and the North Field gas field located in Qatari waters together form the world's largest gas condensate field.

US and Saudi Warn Iran

Trump said that the US had "no prior knowledge" of Israel's attack on the South Pars gas field. This contradicts the statements of Israeli officials and a US Department of Defense official. The latter told Axios News that although the attack did not involve US forces, it was actually conducted with the knowledge and approval of Washington.

Trump now says that Israel "will not attack the South Pars gas field in Persian Gulf waters again," and condemns Iran's retaliatory action against Qatar's gas facilities. The US President threatened that if Tehran continues to attack Qatar's liquefied natural gas facilities, the US will "completely destroy the entire South Pars gas field with a power never seen before in Iran."

Iranian President Pezeshkian previously warned that attacks on Iran's large gas fields would cause "uncontrollable consequences" and "could spread throughout the world."

In addition to Qatar, Kuwait also reported on March 19 that two refining facilities in the country were attacked by drones, causing small-scale fires, but no casualties were reported. A ballistic missile also attacked the Yanbu Port Samreef refinery on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, but according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense, the missile was successfully intercepted; in addition, one drone also crashed near the refinery.

Saudi Arabia is now demanding Iran to stop attacking its Persian Gulf neighbors and also stated that it "reserves the right to take military action against Iran when necessary." Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal said after talks with foreign ministers from several Muslim countries to Al Jazeera, that the actions of the Tehran authorities are escalating Iran's isolation. "We will use all political, economic, and diplomatic means to stop these attacks."

According to Reuters, anti-aircraft systems can be seen firing interception missiles near the hotel where foreign ministers gathered in the capital Riyadh. This is the first time that residents of the Saudi capital have heard explosion sounds and received text warnings since the outbreak of the Iranian conflict.

Source: DW

Original: toutiao.com/article/1860135077062656/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.