Israel says US helped coordinate gasfield attack, despite Trump's claim he knew nothing about it
We’ve just heard from Pete Hegseth. He reiterated the claim that the US president knew nothing about the attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield.
However, is reporting that Israel says its attack on the gas facilities was coordinated with the United States.
Israel has not publicly acknowledged responsibility for the South Pars attack. On Wednesday night, Trump said in a social media post that Washington “knew nothing about this particular attack” and that Israel would not attack the gas field further unless Iran again attacked Qatar.
The three Israeli officials, who spoke to on condition of anonymity, said that Israel was not surprised by Trump’s comments.
They described the dynamic as similar to one that played out after Israel struck fuel depots in Iran several weeks ago. After those attacks, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that in “that particular case those weren’t our strikes”.
The world’s biggest network of climate organisations has condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as “an illegal act of aggression” that “meets the criteria for ecocide”.
“An immediate and permanent ceasefire is the only path forward,” said the Climate Action Network, an umbrella group for more than 1,900 civil society organisations in over 130 countries, in a statement on Thursday, adding that such “unilateral attacks” by “imperialist interests” are a threat to countries across the global south.
The killings of more than 160 schoolgirls at a primary school in Minab, southern Iran, at the very beginning of the US-Israeli surprise attack on the country, was a symbol of the “normalisation of civilian death” encouraged by the genocide in Gaza, the statement said. It went on:
“The attacks on Iran’s oil storage facilities have unleashed massive health and environmental harm. Burning fuel depots poison air, land, water and lungs that will linger in the atmosphere long after the bombing stops. This meets the criteria for ecocide.
Corporations, financial institutions and the arms industry form part of the same fossil-fuelled war economy that profits from destruction while also accelerating climate breakdown.
Climate justice cannot exist in a world where war and impunity are allowed to expand unchecked.”
The European Central Bank has said that the Middle East war “has made the outlook significantly more uncertain” with a risk of higher inflation and lower economic growth.
As it announced it was holding interest rates and predicting inflation would hit 2.6% this year, the ECB said:
“It will have a material impact on near-term inflation through higher energy prices.
Its medium-term implications will depend both on the intensity and duration of the conflict and on how energy prices affect consumer prices and the economy.”
A reporting team came under fire in southern Syria on Thursday, when an Israeli airstrike struck within metres of their position as they were filming. RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and his cameraman, Ali Rida, were wounded in the blast, according to their account.
The two said an Israeli aircraft launched a missile towards their filming location near the Al-Qasmiya Bridge, an area situated close to a local military installation. Rida alleged the strike was deliberate, insisting the crew had been clearly identifiable as media, wearing uniforms marked with press insignia.
Footage captured by Rida’s camera appears to show the moment the missile landed, detonating less than ten metres behind Sweeney as he instinctively drops to the ground in an attempt to shield himself.
Both men remained conscious after the strike and were taken to a nearby hospital, where they are receiving treatment.
Trump administration has 'lost control of its own foreign policy', says Oman
A negotiated deal between the United States and Iran to avert war “appeared really possible”, Oman’s foreign minister who mediated talks between the two sides has said. Badr Albusaidi abandoned the usual reserve of diplomatic language to call the war a “catastrophe” and said Donald Trump’s administration had “lost control of its own foreign policy”.
He mediated a second round of indirect negotiations that resumed in Oman on 6 February, with the final round held in Geneva on 26 February.
“It was a shock but not a surprise when on February 28th – just a few hours after the latest and most substantive talks – Israel and America again launched an unlawful military strike against the peace that had briefly appeared really possible,” Albusaidi wrote.
The details of what was on the table in Geneva is of major significance, experts say, because Trump justified the war by saying Iran posed an “imminent” threat with its nuclear programme.
Albusaidi blamed “Israel’s leadership” for persuading Trump that “an unconditional surrender would swiftly follow the initial assault and the assassination of the supreme leader” Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvo of the war.
“The American administration’s greatest miscalculation, of course, was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place.”
“America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth,” he continued, adding that one of the messages “involves indicating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy”.
It was reported that Britain’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell attended the final round of US-Iran talks in Geneva and viewed Iran’s proposals as “significant enough to prevent a rush to war”.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the US may “unsanction” Iranian oil that is already being shipped, as he tried to allay concerns over the rising price of oil amid the war.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he told Fox Business.
Hegseth reiterates claim that Trump 'knew nothing' about attack on gasfield
When asked by a reporter whether he felt Israel was pursuing its own objectives, in relation to the South Pars attack which Donald Trump said the US “knew nothing” about, Hegseth said:
“We hold the cards.”
“We have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well,”he added. He explained earlier in the press conference that the US’s objectives were to destroy Iran’s missiles, launchers, defence industrial base and navy, and for Tehran to never obtain nuclear weapon.
On the South Pars gasfield attack, he said:
“Iran has weaponised energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning.”
Caine admits Iran retains 'some capability' to attack US assets
Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets.
“They came into this fight with a lot of weapons,” he said, adding that the US was continuing to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran.
Hegseth says US 'on track' but declines to say when war will end
Hegseth declined to say when or how the war with Iran could end, other than saying the US was “very much on track”.
“It will be at the president’s choosing ultimately, where we say, hey, we’ve achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security. So no, no time set on that. But we’re very much on track.”
When asked by a reporter which countries were being the most cooperative with the US, Hegseth said the UAE “from day one has been an incredible and capable partner, willing and able”.
He said the Gulf states have “stepped up incredibly”, adding:
“We’re proud to be defending with them, standing with them, you name it. UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and others.”
Hegseth ended his prepared speech with an overtly religious plea for Americans to pray for US troops “on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ”.
Hegseth said the US-Israeli strikes against Iran has “struck over 7,000 targets”.
“To date, we’ve struck over 7000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision.”
He added that Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has “probably taken the hardest hit” and was “down 90% since the start of the conflict”.
“UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle], think kamikaze drones, down 90%,”he said.
