Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu raise their sights by aiming for the energy heart of Iran. Israel and the United States have in fact targeted the key infrastructures of the Islamic Republic’s crude oil and natural gas industry, hitting the Asaluyeh plants – which hosts oil and petrochemical plants – and especially South Pars, the largest natural gas field in the world.
In the evening it was learned that The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a request from Congress for more than 200 billion dollars to finance the war in Iran. The Washington Post reports this, citing some sources, according to which the amount exceeds the costs incurred so far by the administration in the operation against Iran. It’s unclear whether the White House will eventually ask Congress for that amount. According to some administration officials, the sum requested by the Pentagon is unrealistic.
A half-hour face-to-face, at the bar of the Amigo hotel, in the heart of Brussels: Giorgia Meloni and Friedrich Merz met a few hours before a summit that promises to be extremely delicate on several fronts, from that of the war in the Middle East to energy dossiers. The Prime Minister arrived in the center of Brussels late in the evening. The working dinner between the German Chancellor and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, had recently taken place at the Amigo Hotel. Their meeting could have served to clarify some points of tension between France and Germany, from the super-fighter project about which Berlin has expressed more than one doubt in recent weeks, sparking French anger, to Buy European, the clause which introduces a criterion of European preference in procurement in strategic sectors such as defence.
ANSA AgencyBoth structures overlook the Gulf, a few hundred kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz. Their inclusion among the objectives triggered the revenge of the Islamic Republic which promised to “raze to the ground” enemy energy plants, attacking first in Saudi Arabia – where a drone aimed at a gas plant in the Eastern Province was intercepted – and then in Qatar, where a fire broke out in the important Ras Laffan plant following a raid, causing “serious damage”. An escalation that has further increased oil and gas prices amid fears that the Israeli-American offensive knows no red lines. And which in the meantime also continues with the objective of dismantling the Iranian leadership: after Larijani and Soleimani, the IDF claimed to have also killed the Minister of Intelligence Ismail Khatib. “We are in the decisive phase,” exulted Israeli minister Katz. “No one in Iran enjoys immunity. And everyone is targeted.”
“Israel has helped operationally to convey a message from the USA: either the mines are cleared and the Strait of Hormuz reopened, or we will destroy the entire South Pars plant, as well as other energy infrastructures”, an Israeli source threatened to Channel 12, underlining that the raid was “fully coordinated with the USA”. A clarification that highlights a change in position by Washington, which until now seemed reluctant to damage infrastructures crucial for Iran’s future recovery. The US administration had criticized the previous ones Israeli attacks against oil deposits in Tehran and had asked not to hit energy infrastructures, so much so that even in last week’s raids on Kharg – an island through which 80% of Tehran’s oil exports pass – US forces claimed to have only hit military facilities.
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The Israeli-American change of pace, considered a real “turning point” by analysts, makes a game that is already causing serious repercussions on world economies more dangerous, while Hormuz still lacks a decision on a possible military mission to defend commercial traffic. This time, allies Doha and Abu Dhabi also condemned the raids on South Pars, speaking of “dangerous escalation” and “irresponsible action”: the gas field is in fact the largest in the world, shared between Iran and Qatar, and represents 40% of Tehran’s gas production. The consequences of the attacks were felt in Iraq, where gas imports from Iran completely stopped. And if Tehran’s retaliation has already been felt in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Pasdaran have also issued evacuation orders for the petrochemical plants of the Emirates, with the head of the Navy making it clear that now, “oil plants linked to the US will be treated like American military bases”. President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of the “uncontrollable consequences” of the escalation. And Mojtaba Khamenei also broke his silence by promising that Israel and the United States “will pay”, in a message of condolences for the “assassination” of Ali Larijani.
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The declarations coming from the Islamic Republic try to demonstrate strength and firmness in what represents the greatest moment of crisis for the regime, decimated by Israeli raids which continue to eliminate the leading figures of the theocracy and the government. Lastly, Intelligence Minister Khatib who “played a key role in supporting the regime’s internal repression and terrorist activities”, said the IDF, confirming his death. From Tehran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi assured for his part that “Iran has a solid political structure” and is not based “on a single individual”. But it is clear that day after day, the Iranian establishment proves itself to be an easy prey to an offensive, that of Israel and the United States, which has no intention of slowing down.
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