Israel launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump told it not to repeat its strikes on Iranian \u200bnatural gas infrastructure, which sharply escalated the US-Israeli war on Iran. The conflict has killed thousands of people, spread to neighbouring nations and hit the global economy since the United States \u200cand Israel launched strikes on February 28, after talks about Tehran\u2019s nuclear program failed to yield a deal. \u201cThe IDF has just begun a wave of strikes against the infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran,\u201d a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces said, without providing details. Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said they were dealing with missile attacks in the early hours of Friday, following days of Iranian strikes on regional energy infrastructure that have roiled global markets. Energy \u200bprices jumped on Thursday after Iran responded to an Israeli attack on a major gas field by hitting Qatar\u2019s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which processes around a fifth of the world\u2019s liquefied natural \u200bgas, causing damage that will take years to repair. Saudi Arabia\u2019s main port on the Red Sea, where it has been able to divert some exports to \u2060avoid Iran\u2019s closure of the Gulf\u2019s exit point, the Strait of Hormuz, was also attacked on Thursday. But oil prices fell on Friday as leading European nations and Japan offered to help secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supplies, and the US outlined measures to boost oil output. The strikes on regional energy facilities underscored Iran\u2019s continued ability to exact a heavy price \u200bfor the US-Israeli campaign, and the limits of air defences in protecting the Gulf\u2019s most valuable and strategic energy assets. Trump, politically vulnerable to rising fuel prices among his core voters ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections, has lashed out at allies who have responded cautiously to his demands that they help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for around a fifth of the world\u2019s oil. He said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to repeat the attack on energy infrastructure. \u201cI told \u200bhim, \u2018Don\u2019t do that, and he won\u2019t do that,\u201d he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. Netanyahu later said Israel had acted alone in the bombing of Iran\u2019s South Pars gas field and confirmed that \u200bTrump had asked Israel to hold off on such attacks. Iran is being \u201cdecimated\u201d and no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles, but a revolution in the country would require a \u201cground component,\u201d he said, without elaborating. ENERGY \u200cCRISIS ESCALATES With no \u2060end in sight to the conflict, and the threat of a global \u201coil shock\u201d growing by the day, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement expressing \u201cour readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait\u201d. They also promised, \u201cother steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output\u201d. There was little indication of any immediate move. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reiterated that any contribution to securing the strait would come only after hostilities ended. The resistance by major US allies to becoming involved in the war reflects scepticism about a conflict that European leaders have said has unclear objectives they did not seek and over which they have little control. Israel\u2019s \u200bbombing of Iran\u2019s South Pars gas field, which \u2060Trump said the US had not known about, suggested gaps in coordination of strategy and war aims between the main protagonists. Adding to the confusion around the attack, three Israeli officials said the operation had taken place in consultation with the United States, but was unlikely to be repeated. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told \u200bthe House intelligence committee that US and Israeli goals differed: \u201c\u2026the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The president has stated that his \u200bobjectives are to destroy Iran\u2019s \u2060ballistic missile launching capability, its ballistic missile production capability, and their navy.\u201c \u2018A NEW STAGE IN THE WAR\u2019 Iran\u2019s military said strikes on Iran\u2019s energy infrastructure had led to \u201ca new stage in the war\u201d in which it had attacked energy facilities linked to the United States. \u201cIf strikes (on Iran\u2019s energy facilities) happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is destroyed,\u201d Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari said, according to \u2060state media. QatarEnergy\u2019s CEO told \u200bReuters the Iranian attacks had knocked out a sixth of Qatar\u2019s LNG export capacity, worth $20 billion a year, and that repairs \u200bwould take three to five years. Israeli media reported that an Iranian strike hit oil facilities in Israel\u2019s port of Haifa, causing damage but no casualties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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