
Trump threatens to ‘massively blow up’ gas field if Iran strikes Qatar again
BNN Bloomberg
Iran intensified its attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.
Global fuel supplies were already under pressure because of Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
The Islamic Republic’s retaliation for Israel’s attack on its South Pars gas field sent fuel prices soaring even higher and risked drawing Iran’s Arab neighbors directly into the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that, at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel will hold off on any further attacks the offshore gas field.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, Iran’s top leaders have been killed in airstrikes and the country’s military capabilities have been severely degraded. Netanyahu said in a televised address that Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles, although he did not provide evidence.
Still, Iran -- now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the war’s opening salvo -- remains capable of missile and drone attacks targeting its Gulf Arab neighbours.

A key question hangs over the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting that ends Wednesday: Will central bank policymakers still reduce short-term interest rates this year, now that the Iran war has sent oil prices higher and gas prices spiking? Or will they have to stand pat for months to see how the conflict plays out?












