Netanyahu: Israel 'acted alone' in South Pars strike
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- Netanyahu said Israel "acted alone" in attacking Iran's South Pars, part of the world's largest natural gas field, and denied misleading Trump about the operation
- Trump posted he had not known about the strikes in advance; Netanyahu said Trump then requested no further attacks on energy targets
- Reuters quoted three unnamed Israeli officials saying the South Pars strike was coordinated with the US beforehand, contradicting Netanyahu's public account
- Iran retaliated by striking Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial area, home to the world's biggest LNG processing plant, and warned of "zero restraint" if struck again
- QatarEnergy said roughly 17% of its export capacity was affected; the UK gas benchmark surged 11.3% to 154.8p per therm after briefly hitting almost 183p, and European prices rose over 10%
- Iran restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world's 100 million barrels of daily oil consumption
- The US is weighing lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil to contain energy market fallout, while verified footage showed fire at an oil refinery in Haifa after a reported Iranian missile strike
Why it matters: The contradiction between Netanyahu's public claim and anonymous Israeli officials' account to Reuters exposes a credibility gap in US-Israel coordination. With ~17% of Qatar's LNG capacity disrupted and UK gas up 11.3%, Washington is now weighing lifting Iranian oil sanctions to contain the energy fallout.
