(AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran is being “decimated” and it is unclear who is in charge, as Tehran sent jitters through global markets by turning its sights on Gulf oil and gas facilities. Nearly three weeks into the Middle East war launched by Israel and the United States, Netanyahu stated the Islamic republic no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, renewed his call meanwhile for a truce between Israel and Iran ally Hezbollah and the opening of negotiations. With no ceasefire on the horizon, Lebanon’s health ministry reported that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon and on Beirut’s southern suburbs has surpassed 1,000.
In Brussels, the European Union, following a meeting of EU leaders, called for a moratorium on strikes against energy and water facilities and vowed to prevent “uncontrolled migratory movements” towards the 27-nation bloc. Netanyahu, speaking at a press conference, hailed his cooperation with US President Donald Trump and asserted, “We are winning and Iran is being decimated.”
“This war is ending a lot faster than people think,” he said without providing a specific timeframe. His comments followed Washington’s statement that there was no deadline to end the war launched against Iran on February 28.
– ‘We’re seeing cracks’ –
Netanyahu expressed uncertainty about who is currently in charge in Iran. “Mojtaba, the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face,” he stated, referring to Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war. “We’re seeing cracks, and we’re trying to propagate them as fast as we can, not only in the top command. We’re seeing cracks in the field,” Netanyahu added.
While Israel and the United States expressed confidence in their war efforts, energy markets were left reeling by Iranian attacks on the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plant in Qatar and refineries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Oil markets have already been shaken by Iran’s chokehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Benchmark Brent surged six percent to $119 a barrel before falling back to $110, while European gas prices rose nearly a third after Iranian missiles struck Qatar’s vast Ras Laffan natural gas complex in retaliation for Israel’s air raid on the South Pars gas field.
The latest attack on Ras Laffan caused “extensive damage,” with QatarEnergy estimating it could cost $20 billion a year in lost revenue and take five years to repair. Iran also struck elsewhere in the region, with a drone crashing into the Samref refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, as reported by the Saudi defense ministry. The Saudi government stated it reserved the “right to take military actions” in response.
In Kuwait, drone attacks ignited fires at the Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi refineries, which have a combined capacity of 800,000 barrels per day. An oil refinery in the port of Haifa, Israel, was also hit on Thursday, with media showing images of black smoke rising from the complex.
– ‘It’s coordinated’ –
Trump indicated he was unaware in advance about Israel’s raid on South Pars, which supplies about 70 percent of Iran’s domestic needs. However, he stated he had told Netanyahu not to target Iranian gas fields again. “We get along great. It’s coordinated, but on occasion, he’ll do something” that Washington opposes, Trump remarked.
Netanyahu insisted that Israel acted alone in the strike and rejected suggestions that he had drawn Trump into the conflict, implying he was the junior partner in the joint assault on Iran. “Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?” Netanyahu asked. “He didn’t need any convincing.” Trump warned that the United States would “blow up” South Pars if Tehran did not cease attacks on Qatar, but he mentioned there was no current plan to send ground troops into Iran.
Iran responded with defiance, with the military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya operational command vowing the “complete destruction” of Gulf energy infrastructure if the Israeli attack was repeated. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated there would be “ZERO restraint” if Iran’s infrastructure was hit again.
Amid growing concern over the economic fallout from the conflict, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands announced they would “contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.” However, they provided few details. Rome and Berlin later insisted any action would only occur if there was a ceasefire.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “reckless escalation” in attacks and called for “direct talks between the Americans and Iranians.” Britain cautioned that “attacks on critical infrastructure risked pushing the region further into crisis,” while India and China expressed new concern about oil supplies flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remarked there is no timeframe for ending the war, but stated, “we’re very much on track,” adding that Trump would decide when to conclude the fighting. “It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to,'” he said.
burs-cl/dw – AFP teams in Jerusalem, Doha, Tehran, Beirut and Washington
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