Extract from ABC News
An Iranian security officer monitors a unit of South Pars Gas field in Asalouyeh Seaport. (TIMA: Raheb Homavandi via Reuters, file photo)
Hi, I'm ABC Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran, and I'm in Beirut.
I'm giving you daily updates to help you quickly understand what's going on.
Here's what you need to know today:
- Arab states are furious over Iran's continued attacks against them, particularly targeting oil and gas infrastructure. One strike has knocked out 17 per cent of Qatar's gas production for the next five years, according to the company running the facility.
- Donald Trump has claimed on social media that Israel went rogue in attacking a gas field in Iran, part owned by Qatar. Israel hit part of the South Pars development on Wednesday in a major escalation of its strikes on the resources sector.
- The UK, Japan and a number of European nations have all indicated their willingness to join efforts to secure "safe passage" for ships through the Strait of Hormuz — but haven't explicitly said what such action would entail. The Japanese prime minister met with President Trump in the White House and said the global economy was taking a hit as a result of the war.
- The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes against claimed Hezbollah targets has reached a grim milestone, surpassing 1,000 in just over two weeks of conflict. Aside from the casualties in Iran itself, Lebanon is now the most deadly front in this war.
- Video has spread widely on social media of a journalist and camera operator working for Russian media in southern Lebanon narrowly avoiding being hit in an Israeli strike on a bridge. The crew were wearing protective vests, displaying the word "press". The IDF's international spokesman said the military would investigate what happened.
Here's what all that means
It seems like Iran has figured out the best way to unite the Gulf states — severely damage their ability to make money.
Iran had issued a warning to the region that it would attack oil and gas infrastructure after Israel took aim at the massive South Pars gas facility. And the Iranian regime followed through on the threat.
Ras Laffan in Qatar, which processes around a fifth of the world's LNG supplies, suffered extensive damage in an Iranian strike. Repairs at the site could take years, according to Qatar Energy, which runs the site, and cut $US20 billion ($28 billion) from the company's coffers.
Qatar's prime minister rejected claims from Iran that US-linked facilities had been targeted and said the war needed to stop immediately.
It's clear the situation is rattling even the White House, as much as Mr Trump can be rattled. He took to his Truth Social platform to distance himself from the original Israeli strike on South Pars. "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," he posted.
Although, in Trump style, he did then threaten that the US would attack the site again if Iran launched further strikes on Qatari infrastructure.
Shot, chaser.
Reuters soon reported that the US was aware it was going to happen, the suggestion being Mr Trump was trying to keep the Qataris and Gulf states onside by using a bit of plausible/semi-plausible/perhaps not very plausible deniability. The president later said he'd told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch further attacks.
That may well be the case. He's one of the few people who has sway over Mr Netanyahu, although Israel has clearly pursued a lot of its own agenda in this war — as evidenced by testimony before Congress by the Trump administration's Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.
"The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government," she said.
"We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership.
"The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy."
Here's the impact in Australia
- Petrol prices: Are petrol stations using the war as a pretext for ripping us off? And what could even be done about it if so? This morning's ABC News Daily looks at what to expect at the pump (🎧 15m54s).
And here's how to stay up to date:
You can keep track of the latest updates from Iran and around the world throughout the day via our live blog.
Thanks for joining me. I'll see you at the same time tomorrow.
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