Trump says he is 'not putting troops' in Iran as war continues for almost three weeks

US President Donald Trump said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to strike any more Iranian gas fields.

He insisted on social media that he "knew nothing" about Wednesday's strike by Israel on the South Pars gas field in Iran, which retaliated to the attack by hitting Qatari energy sites.

Trump accused Israel of "violently lashing out" by striking the facility "out of anger". He said no more attacks would target the South Pars Gas Field, but vowed to “blow up the entirety” of the world’s largest gas field if Tehran repeats attacks on Qatari LNG facilities.

Asked in the Oval Office whether he had talked to Netanyahu about attacking Iranian gas fields, Trump replied: "I did. I told him, don't do that, and he won't do that."

"You know, we're independent. We get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion, he'll do something, and if I don't like it...and so we're not doing that anymore."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed his call for a truce and the opening of negotiations with Israel to stop the war with Hezbollah, during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

Aoun stressed "the necessity of a ceasefire, and to provide the necessary guarantees for its success by the parties concerned," according to a statement issued by the presidency.

The president said "the negotiating initiative he announced is still on the table, but the continued military escalation is hindering its launch", the statement added.

On 9 March, Aoun proposed a four-point initiative that included "establishing a full truce" with Israel, providing logistical support to the army in order to "disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its depots and warehouses," and that Lebanon and Israel "begin direct negotiations under international auspices".

Barrot is on a short visit to Lebanon that "reflects France's support and solidarity with the Lebanese people, who have been dragged into a war they did not choose," the French Foreign Ministry said.

The United States announced the approval of around $23 billion in arms sales to its allies in the Gulf region.

In notices sent to Congress on Thursday, the State Department said the US would sell:

1. To the United Arab Emirates, more than $8 billion in air defence systems and related materiel, including drones, air-to-air missiles and F-16 fighter jet munitions.

2. To Kuwait, $8 billion in missile defence and radar systems.

3. To Jordan, $70.5 million of aircraft and munitions support.

Another $6 billion in sales to the three countries was approved but did not require congressional notification because they involved adjustments to previously approved packages or purely commercial sales, a State Department official said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said that tying Lebanon to regional calculations would give Israel a "pretext to expand its aggression" against the country, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for more than two weeks.

In a speech in Beirut, Salam said that "linking Lebanon to regional calculations larger than it is does not protect it. Rather, it doubles the cost for it and gives Israel a pretext to expand its aggression".

"We must read regional changes through the lens of protecting Lebanon, and we must put the national interest ahead of any other consideration."

He said "Lebanon's priority today is to stop the war, stop the destruction, stop the displacement, protect civilians, ensure their return and launch reconstruction".

Ongoing Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon and on Beirut's southern suburbs have caused the displacement of more than one million people, according to authorities.

Hakan Fidan said on Thursday that he told his Iranian counterpart during a phone call while in Saudi Arabia’s capital that missiles were striking the city even as they spoke.

“At least don’t send missiles while the meeting is taking place,” Fidan recalled telling Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Fidan was in Riyadh on Wednesday for a gathering of Muslim and Arab foreign ministers to discuss the Middle East war.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was not sending ground troops to Iran, weeks after he launched massive missile and bombing attacks alongside Israel.

"If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you. But I'm not putting troops anywhere," Trump told reporters as he met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

More details to follow.

The UN's maritime body called on Thursday for a safe shipping "corridor" in the Gulf to evacuate stranded vessels and seafarers, in a declaration following an emergency meeting that also condemned Iran.

Following two days of urgent talks in London convened because of the war, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said in a formal declaration that the "safe maritime corridor" should be established as "a provisional and urgent measure."

The UN agency, responsible for regulating international shipping safety, added that the corridor must "facilitate the safe evacuation of merchant ships from the high-risk and affected areas to a safe place."

IMO calls Extraordinary Council meeting to discuss situation in Middle East

The Council will focus on the impact on shipping and seafarers in the Arabian Sea, the Sea of Oman and the Gulf region, particularly in and around the Strait o…

Israeli media reported that an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa was hit on Thursday, after the military warned of incoming missiles launched from Iran.

Israel's Kan 11 public broadcaster aired images on television showing a thick plume of dark smoke rising from the area of the refinery.

In a post on X, Kan reported that there were no concerns that hazardous materials had leaked.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Thursday that 200 of those killed were members of the elite Radwan unit. He gave no further evidence.

The claim came as the death toll in Lebanon topped 1,000.

Asked about the strike on the South Pars gas field, Shoshani declined to comment, but said that in general the Israeli military had “great coordination” with the United States.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday condemned Iran's attacks on the state's main gas hub after Tehran sent waves of attacks against Gulf energy infrastructure a day earlier.

"This attack has significant repercussions for global energy supplies. Such attacks bring no direct benefit to any country, rather, they harm and directly impact populations," he told a press conference following extensive damage to the Ras Laffan facility.

Al Thani said Thursday Iran's attack on the world's largest gas facility in Qatar was "clear proof" against Tehran's claims of having targeted only US interests in the Gulf.

There were "persistent Iranian claims that these attacks are against American interests...and this claim is rejected and cannot be accepted," he said.

"The clear proof of this is the attack that took place yesterday that targeted a natural gas facility in the State of Qatar.”

The Israeli military said on Thursday that its fighter jets had struck several Iranian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea the previous day.

The targets included ships equipped with missile systems, support vessels and patrol craft, the military said, adding that a port command centre was also hit in the operation.

An air raid alert has been sent out in Doha, Euronews journalists in the Qatari capital said on Thursday afternoon.

More details to follow.

The war in Iran poses a dire threat to global food security, the World Trade Organisation chief warned on Thursday, appealing for global supply chains to remain open.

The Middle East conflict "threatens global food security, since shipping disruptions and higher energy costs reduce the supply and raise the cost of fertiliser", Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters in Geneva.

"A prolonged interruption in supply could ripple through food systems, prompting farmers to reduce their use of fertilisers and plant less input-intensive crops," she said, insisting it was "essential to keep global food trade channels open and predictable, allowing food supplies to flow to where they are most needed."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that Tehran will not exercise any restraint if its energy facilities were attacked again.

"Our response to Israel's attack on our infrastructure employed FRACTION of our power. The ONLY reason for restraint was respect for requested de-escalation," Araghchi wrote in a post on X.

"ZERO restraint if our infrastructures are struck again."

Six Western allies, including the UK, France, Germany and Japan, said in a joint statement on Thursday they were ready "to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz."

"We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning" the grouping, which also includes Italy and the Netherlands, added, as they condemned "in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf."

The statement came as around 20,000 seafarers remained stuck on approximately 3,200 vessels west of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organisation, due to an effective Iranian blockade of the crucial maritime chokepoint.

The department sent the request to the White House, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private information.

This $200 billion (€174 billion) is an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of extra funding the Defence Department already received last year in Trump’s big tax cuts bill.

Congress is bracing for a new spending request but it is not clear the White House has transmitted the request for consideration. It is unclear whether the spending request would have support.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that there is no "time frame" for ending the US-Israeli war against Iran, which was launched three weeks ago.

"We wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame," Hegseth told reporters, adding that "we're very much on track" and that President Donald Trump will be the one to decide when to stop.

"It will be at the president's choosing, ultimately, where we say, 'Hey, we've achieved what we need to.'"

Saying that Iran’s “surface fleet is no longer a factor,” Hegseth also said that “their submarines, they once had 11, are gone.”

The crafts Hegseth referenced are “midget” submarines designed to work in shallow waters in the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz.

The small vessels are designed to evade sonar as they lay mines and fire torpedoes.

Those remarks echo Donald Trump’s comments on Monday that Iran’s military had been “obliterated.”

Without giving details, Hegseth also said the US was working “to ensure that messaging is delivered, not just to the Iranian people writ large, but to the right audiences, certain audiences that need to hear certain things about what their fate might look like or what their choices are.”

An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost all communications from Iran, making it nearly impossible to reliably survey Iranian perspectives on the escalating conflict.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned "in the strongest terms" Iranian strikes on Qatar's main gas hub, the world's largest liquefied natural gas facility.

"We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people," Starmer added in a post on X.

The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom urged the US and Israel on Thursday to make sure they don’t hit Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant.

Alexei Likhachev warned that “not a single party to the conflict will escape the impact of radiation if there is a serious accident.”

He had previously reported that a strike on Tuesday hit the territory of the plant near the building of metrology service close to the operating nuclear reactor, causing no injuries or damage.

Likhachev said that Rosatom had evacuated some of its personnel in Bushehr and is planning to pull out most of 480 people left there, leaving just a few dozen to operate the plant.

Energy firm Shell PLC says it is assessing the damage after Iran launched attacks on Qatar.

Shell said it was looking at the damage at the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant at the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility after it was hit by Iranian missiles. It said all staff on site are safe after the attack.

“We are currently assessing any potential damage to Pearl GTL and working with Qatar Energy and the relevant authorities to understand the damage to the wider Ras Laffan Industrial City facilities,” it said.

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz is underlining his insistence that the war must end before his country can help with matters such as keeping shipping lanes clear.

Merz said on Thursday that “we can and will commit ourselves only when the weapons fall silent.”

He added that “we can then do a great deal, as far as opening sea lanes and keeping them clear, but we’re not doing it during ongoing combat operations.”

He said an international mandate that doesn’t yet exist also would be needed, and “there are still many steps ahead of us before we can even consider such an issue.”

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a truce as the Middle East enters a religious holiday at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“The fighting should stop for a few days to try to give negotiations another chance,” Macron said in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders.

He said France is pushing for a moratorium on attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

In a rapid sequence of tit-for-tat events between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning which triggered an instant jump in oil and gas global prices, Iran is telegraphing that it is dragging the region into all out economic war after seemingly identifying the pressure point for the highest inflicted damage. 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced that “a new stage of war” has begun as it struck oil and gas facilities in no less than nine neighbouring countries over a period of 12 hours between Wednesday and Thursday in what appears to be a pre-planned set of strikes and even as Iran’s leadership is being decimated by Israel. 

After Israel’s bombing of Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field on Wednesday, Tehran immediately announced it is now launching a systematic campaign on the region’s sprawling energy facilities even if Qatar and the UAE immediately condemned Israel’s attack in a significant move. 

Iran shares its South Pars natural gas field in its south with Qatar to its north as the world’s largest gas field. 

Even so, Iran immediately threatened and then attacked energy facilities in Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia and other oil facilities across the Middle East.

Wednesday night and then again on Thursday morning, Qatar announced that its massive Ras Laffan energy facilities were attacked by Iran, with extensive damage caused, and then Doha swiftly moved to expel the entire Iranian military corps of the Iranian embassy in Qatar, in a hardening position against Tehran. 

Just few hours later and as a first since the war started, US president Donald Trump also called on Israel to stop attacking Iran’s gas field as to underline the severity of the stakes of an escalating economic war, saying that he was not aware of Israel’s strike plans. 

Through this sequence of events, the Iranian regime now knows that the world’s gas and oil nerve centers are the most effective targets, with immediate shocks in global prices to the world’s economies, and a strong pressure point to create alarm and divisions in the current united front against the regime’s agressions.

But they also know that the response will be just as strong, as Qatar is already signalling by swiftly expelling Iran’s military diplomats and president Trump warned that if Iran continued targeting Qatar’s energy facilities, the US would “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.” 

South Pars is Iran’s main source of energy and any major disruption could paralyse the country.

And while Iran continues to choke the Strait of Hormuz putting more pressure on consumers and economies worldwide, it is not just oil and LNG gas production and shipments that are disrupted, but other key materials too. 

The price of aluminium is rising globally also as two Gulf smelters, in Bahrain and again in Qatar, declared force majeure because their product cannot ship through Hormuz, while the global transport of fertilisers is also affected putting pressure on global farming.

Author: Peter Barabas in Doha

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called Israel’s attack on Wednesday on Iran’s South Pars natural gas field “incomprehensible.”

“This move has been totally damaging the markets,” Babiš said. “The price of gas is exploding and the price of oil as well.”

The Czech Republic is one of Israel’s biggest allies within the European Union.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Europe will not be “blackmailed” into the US and Israeli military campaign in the Middle East.

“Europe, and Austria as well, will not allow itself to be blackmailed,” he said in Brussels on Thursday. “Intervention in the Strait of Hormuz is not an option for Austria anyway.”

Stocker called for the stabilisation of the supply and prices of energy following the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's military renewed threats on Thursday to destroy the region's energy infrastructure if its facilities are attacked again during the war.

"We warn the enemy that you made a major mistake in attacking the energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the response is underway and not yet finished," the military's operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.

"If it is repeated, subsequent attacks against your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until their complete destruction, and our response will be far more severe than" last night's attacks.

QatarEnergy offered five slots for unloading and storage of LNG at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal ‌for April, industry sources said.

Qatar, the world's second-largest exporter of LNG, announced a production halt at its main facility earlier this month.

It also declared force majeure on LNG shipments because of the war in Iran.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned what he described as a “flagrant” Iranian attack on a major gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.

He also condemned Iran's attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, and warned against the “dangerous escalation” caused by targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf, according to a statement released early on Thursday.

The Arab League chief reiterated full support to Gulf nations in “all measures they undertake to confront these malicious Iranian attacks, and their right to safeguard the security of their citizens and the integrity of their facilities.”

For the second time in an hour, Israel has warned of incoming Iranian fire.

It is the eighth salvo of missiles launched on Israel so far on Thursday in one of the most intense days of Iranian fire on the country.

A summit of Gulf Arab countries and others ended a meeting on Thursday with a renewed, unified call for Iran to halt attacks on its neighbours.

A statement by the nations at the summit denounced “these deliberate Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, which targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic missions.”

“The participants emphasised that these attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way,” the statement said.

The nations represented at the summit were Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Journalists reported hearing three blasts over the Tel Aviv area on Thursday, after the Israeli military announced it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said.

Iranian lawmakers have proposed a plan to impose tolls and taxes on ships passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported on Thursday.

"We in parliament are pursuing a plan under which countries will pay tolls and taxes to the Islamic republic if the Strait of Hormuz is used as a secure route for transit, energy and food security," said Somayeh Rafiei, a lawmaker in Tehran.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, the largest in the world, “incomprehensible.”

“This move has been totally damaging the markets,” Babis said. “The price of gas is exploding and the price of oil as well.”

The Czech Republic is one of Israel’s biggest allies within the European Union.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has urged Iran to end attacks in the region.

The comments came during a meeting of foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday, where Abdelatty and his regional and Arab counterparts expressed solidarity with countries impacted by Iran’s “threats.”

They condemned Iranian attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Gulf nations, calling them “unjustifiable violations” that immediately need to stop.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Europe will not be “blackmailed” into the US and Israel’s military campaign in Iran.

“Europe, and Austria as well, will not allow itself to be blackmailed,” he said on Thursday in Brussels, where EU leaders are gathering for a summit.

“Intervention in the Strait of Hormuz is not an option for Austria anyway.”

Stocker called for the stabilisation of the supply and prices of energy following the continuing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing says it is shocked at reports that Israel authorised the killing of senior Iranian and Hezbollah figures without case-by-case approval, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

“We have been opposed to the use of force in international relations, and the killing of Iran’s national leaders and attacks on civilian targets are even more unacceptable,” spokesperson Lin Jian said.

China urges all parties involved to immediately cease military operations and prevent the regional conflict from spiralling out of control, he said.

Cathay Pacific says it is further suspending its flights to Dubai and the Saudi capital Riyadh until the end of April.

The Hong Kong-based airline attributed the suspensions to “the developing situation in the Middle East.”

It is one of several long-haul carriers outside the Middle East that have temporarily stopped serving the region due to the conflict.

Saudi Arabia said a drone hit the country’s SAMREF refinery in the port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea on Thursday.

The Saudi Defence Ministry announced the news, saying without elaborating that “damage assessment is underway.”

The strike comes as drones also hit two oil refineries in Kuwait. Overnight, Iranian attacks hit natural gas sites in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, spiking global energy prices.

The strikes are part of an Iranian retaliatory campaign over an Israeli attacks on Wednesday on its South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf that it shares with Qatar.

SAMREF is a joint venture between the kingdom’s oil giant Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil that processes more than 400,000 barrels per day of Arabian Light crude oil.

The attack on the Red Sea now reaches into Saudi Arabia’s assets there, where it has been trying to lift crude oil out to the global market via pipeline to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, which remains under Iranian attack.

Global oil and natural gas prices soared Wednesday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the world’s gas and two oil refineries in Kuwait.

The attacks raised fears that the global energy crisis trigged by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic would be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas productions.

International benchmark Brent crude rose to near $114 per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war.

The European TTF benchmark for natural gas prices traded 24% higher on Thursday.

Attacking Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, which it shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, threatens electricity supplies in the Islamic Republic.

Some 80% of all power generated in Iran comes from natural gas, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. It also is used to supply household heating and cooking across the country.

An attack from the US, following through on Trump’s promise to annihilate the field, could trigger catastrophic humanitarian crises in the republic. 

A projectile hit a ship off the coast of Qatar on Thursday morning, authorities said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre reported the incident off Ras Laffan, an important natural gas supply point which had been repeatedly hit by Iranian fire overnight.

The UKMTO said the ship’s crew was safe.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the vessel had been deliberately targeted or potentially struck by falling debris as Qatar fired off missile interceptors at incoming Iranian barrages.

Kuwait said on Thursday that an Iranian drone attack sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the small, oil-rich nation.

The state-run KUNA news agency cited the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. for the announcement.

It said the drone attack sparked a fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery but caused no injuries.

The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 730,000 barrels per day.

Satellite images show damage at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates after repeated Iranian attacks targeting the facility hosting American troops.

The images, taken by an Airbus Defence and Space’s Pléiades Neo satellite, show damage at one set of hangars to the northwest of the facility in Abu Dhabi.

Another hangar to the southeast of the facility appears shredded by fire, with an adjacent hangar sustaining roof damage.

It’s unclear what had been in the hangars.

Al Dhafra had hosted some 2,000 US troops and has served as a major base of operations for everything from armed drones to F-35 stealth fighters in recent years.

Iran’s foreign minister lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday over his comments on Tehran attacking Qatar.

Macron wrote he spoke with US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s emir over Iran’s attack.

“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities,” Macron wrote on X.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Macron’s comments “sad!”

“Macron has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” Araghchi wrote on X. “He did not condemn Israel when it blew up fuel storage in Tehran, exposing millions to toxins. His current “concern” didn’t follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities.”

Kuwait said a drone attack set a second oil refinery ablaze in the small, oil-rich nation on Thursday.

The blaze hit the Mina Abdullah refinery.

The nearby Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery earlier caught fire after a drone attack.

Saudi Arabia says its air defences intercepted and downed six drones in Riyadh and the Eastern Province on Thursday.

More details to follow.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to “blow up the entirety” of the world’s largest gas field, the South Pars, situated in Iran, if Tehran repeats attacks on Qatari LNG facilities.

On Wednesday, Iran targeted Doha’s largest Ras Laffan gas field in retaliation for an earlier attack on its South Pars.

Trump says Israel launched the attack on the gas field without US knowledge or involvement and has promised no further attacks from them on the site.

Read the full article: 

Trump threatens to ‘entirely blow up’ Iran’s South Pars gas field

Trump has vowed to “blow up the entirety” of Iran’s South Pars gas field if Tehran moves to attack Qatari gas fields again. The warning comes after Iran, in re…