Jerusalem, 20 March (H.S.): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Thursday that Israel operated entirely alone in striking Irans South Pars the worlds biggest natural gas field a move that ignited Tehrans retaliation against Qatars energy hubs and sent global prices soaring.
At his news conference Netanyahu who wore a dark suit and pointed emphatically at reporters said President Donald Trump asked Israel to hold off on more energy target hits and theyre complying. He shot down talk of misleading the US or dragging it into the war quipping nobody tells Trump what to do even as some Israeli officials anonymously told Reuters the South Pars raid was pre-coordinated.
The flareup escalated the three-week-old US-Israel war on Iran which saw Tehran lash out at Qatars Ras Laffan the top LNG plant slashing 17 percent of its exports and risking billions in losses for Europe and Asia. Qatars PM Mohammed bin Abdurrahman Al-Thani called it a very dangerous escalation with major global supply fallout while Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed zero restraint if hit again.
Trump blasted the chain on Truth Social saying he knew nothing beforehand Israel acted out of anger and Iran wrongly slugged innocent Qatar – he warned no more Israeli attacks on South Pars unless Iran strikes back there then the US would flatten the whole field with or without Israel packing power Iran has never seen. Gas benchmarks spiked hard UK prices touched almost 183p per therm up 11 percent before pulling back to 154.8p Europe jumped over 10 percent too as markets panicked.
Netanyahu boasted Israel is gutting Irans military from uranium labs to Caspian Sea navy creating cracks for regime change though he said Irans people must topple it themselves – if it survives itll be a husk stripped of decades of industry. Verified video showed flames at Haifas refinery after an Iranian missile with Energy Minister Eli Cohen downplaying grid damage as local and minor power quickly restored.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
