For the first time, the US has admitted to having been clueless about an attack under the “joint operation” with Israel against Iran. US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US had no clue about Israel launching an attack on the South Pars Gas Field in Iran. He also said Iran did not know this and “unfairly attacked” Qatar’s LNG facility.
This is the first time the US has said that Israel has acted without taking it into confidence since both nations launched the joint operation against Iran on February 28.
“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. 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,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
On March 18-19, 2026, , the heart of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and one of the world’s most important energy export hubs. According to state energy giant QatarEnergy, several missiles struck the facility, sparking fires and causing “extensive damage” to critical processing units, though there were no reported casualties as safety protocols and evacuations were implemented.
Qatar’s government condemned the attack as a dangerous escalation and violation of sovereignty, closed parts of its airspace, and responded diplomatically by expelling Iranian military and security attaches. The strike was likely part of Tehran’s retaliation for earlier attacks on its South Pars gas fields by Israeli forces.
Qatar supplies roughly 20 % of the world’s LNG, and any sustained operational setbacks at Ras Laffan could tighten global gas markets already under strain from Middle East hostilities.
Trump further sought to assure that Israel will not target the South Pars Field unless Iran attacks “innocents”.
“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,” he said.
Trump further warned Tehran that if it decided to carry out such attacks the US, with or without the help of Israel, will “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”.
Trump said: “I do not want to authorise 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 [facility] is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so.”
