- The Trump administration was reportedly informed before Israel's attack on Iran's South Pars gas field
- Three Israeli officials claimed the US had prior knowledge of the South Pars strike
- President Trump denied US involvement and said he was unaware of the specific attack beforehand
The Trump administration knew about the Israeli attack on Iran's South Pars gas field beforehand, three Israeli officials claimed in an interview with The New York Times. This contradicts President Donald Trump's "knew nothing" remark and his attempt to distance the US from "this particular attack".
Israel on Wednesday attacked Iranian side of the South Pars gas field, part of the world's largest natural gas reservoir. South Pars accounts for 70 per cent to 75 per cent of Iran's total gas production. In retaliation, Iran attacked Ras Laffan, world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Qatar.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, three Israeli officials briefed on the South Pars strike said the US was informed before the attack, NYT reported. The White House did not immediately respond to NYT's request for a comment.
However, soon after the attack, Trump said Israel reacted "out of anger" and insisted that the US, which launched a joint strike on Iran along with Israel on February 28, had no prior information.
"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 wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump believes that Iran did not know this and "unjustifiably and unfairly attacked" a portion of Qatar's LNG gas facility.
Trump assured that "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."
However, he also warned that if Iran attacks Qatar, US, "with or without the help or consent of Israel, will 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."
Trump said he "doesn't want to authorise this level of violence" because of the long-term impact on Iran, but if Qatar's LNG is hit, US won't hesitate.
Asked in the Oval Office whether he had talked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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."
Netanyahu appeared to agree to Trump's request.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
