Donald Trump says the US will retaliate if Iran attacks Qatar again

President Donald Trump pledged that Israel would make no more attacks on Iran’s major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again, the US would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of the field.

Mr Trump made his threat on his Truth Social site as the war roiled global energy markets and Iranian missiles hit Qatar.

“I do not want to authorise this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran,” Mr Trump said, but added that he would “not hesitate to do so,” if Qatar’s liquified natural gas sites were attacked again.

He said Israel “out of anger” had “violently lashed out” and hit a “relatively small section” of the gas field.

Iran attacked gas facilities in Qatar after Israel launched its attack against South Pars.

Qatar said on Thursday that Iranian missile attacks damaged more liquefied natural gas sites in the energy-rich nation, “causing sizable fires and extensive further damage”.

Qatar Energy, the nation’s state-owned oil and gas company, said firefighters were working to halt the fires and no one had been hurt so far.

The United Arab Emirates denounced Iran’s attacks targeting its Habshan gas facility and Bab field as a “dangerous escalation.”

Authorities in Abu Dhabi say the gas operations had been shut down after interceptions over the sites.

Saudi Arabia, which also reported downing Iranian drones targeting its natural gas facilities overnight, also criticised Iranian attacks.

“What little trust there was before has completely been shattered,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after a meeting between foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab states and others over the Iranian attacks tearing at the wider Middle East.

“The attacks on my country and on my neighbouring countries that are not involved in this conflict — that’s all I’m interested in,” Prince Faisal said. “We’re going to use every lever we have — political, economic, diplomatic and otherwise — to get these attacks to stop.”

He criticised Iran’s attacks on Riyadh, the capital hosting the meeting.

“I cannot see it as coincidental,” he said. “That’s the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy. It tries to pressure its neighbours, and that’s not going to work.”

A statement by the nations at the summit – Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and UAE – 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.

An attack set a ship on fire early on Thursday off the coast of the UAE, authorities said.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.

It said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas typically flows.

More than 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far as Tehran tries to squeeze shippers as part of its pressure campaign over the conflict.

Medics and doctors were still assessing victims early on Thursday morning from an Israeli strike on the West Bank as the Palestinian Red Crescent adjusted their toll to at least three killed and at least 13 injured. It had earlier reported four deaths.

The group called the count preliminary and said the deaths resulted from a direct strike and “falling missile fragments.”

Paramedics said they faced serious delays reaching the Hebron-area strike, slowed by gates the Israeli military has set up around Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank and kept largely closed during the war.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Information said early on Thursday that the largest mosque in Kuwait City, which can accommodate thousands of worshippers for major prayers, will be closed to worshippers on Eid al‑Fitr due to the “current circumstances”.

Authorities across Gulf countries have announced that Eid prayers – marking the end of Ramadan – will be held only inside regular mosques, with no large outdoor gatherings as a precaution. The ongoing Iran war has prompted Gulf states to curb large public events and gatherings.

US House speaker Mike Johnson said the US operation was “all but done” but he acknowledged the situation in the Strait of Hormuz “is dragging it out a little bit.”

The Republican said Mr Trump was right to ask countries that have interests in the region to help in securing the strait.

“I think it’s pretty absurd that those requests were rebuffed,” he said.

“I do think the original mission is virtually accomplished now: We were trying to take out the ballistic missiles and their means of production, and neuter the Navy, and those objectives have been met,” he said. “As soon as we bring some calm to the situation, I think it’s all but done.”