President Donald Trump cryptically denied on Thursday any intention to order U.S. ground troops into Iranian territory, as the nearly three-week conflict continued to wreak havoc on the global economy with multiple attacks on oil and gas infrastructure by both sides.
The president spoke while taking questions from reporters alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, when he was asked whether he planned to deploy more U.S. troops — specifically ground troops — to the Middle East.
He responded: “No, I’m not deploying troops anywhere,” but then added: “If it were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”
He later reiterated that he would not send ground troops to Iran – despite reports that the United States was considering one – and pledged to take “all necessary measures” to drive down oil and gas prices, in response to a second question about whether he planned to ease long-standing U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil amid a surge in oil prices caused by the war.
“I thought it would go up more than it did, but we’re on this journey and when it’s done we’re going to have a safer world,” he said. Trump over the past week began referring to his war in Iran as a “trip,” seemingly in an effort to downplay it.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Getty)
The president also acknowledged having spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s attacks on Iranian gas infrastructure, which prompted retaliatory attacks on similar facilities across the Middle East.
“I told him ‘Don’t do that,’ and he wouldn’t do it,” Trump insisted.
His comments on the conversation with Netanyahu came just hours after he accused Israel of “lashing out” by attacking the South Pars gas field, Iran’s largest such facility, and claimed the United States “knew nothing” while denying Qatari involvement and foreknowledge of the attack “in any way, shape or form” as Tehran retaliated with an attack on one of Qatar’s gas facilities.
On Wednesday night, he wrote in “Truth Social” that as long as Tehran does not carry out further attacks on Qatari facilities, there will be no further attacks on Iranian facilities.
But in the same article, he also threatened that if Iran did not heed his demand not to attack liquefied natural gas facilities, U.S. forces would launch an attack with Israel to “blow up the entire South Pars gas field on a massive scale with an intensity and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
“I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term consequences it will have for Iran’s future, but if Qatar’s LNG is attacked again, I will not hesitate to do so,” he added.
Israeli officials cast doubt on Trump’s claim that the U.S. had no foreknowledge of plans to attack Iran’s South Pars gas facility (Social Media)
However, Trump’s denial that the United States had any foreknowledge of the attack was quickly disputed by Israeli officials, three of whom said the attack was in fact coordinated with the United States.
Three Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel was not surprised by Trump’s comments.
They describe the dynamic as similar to what happened after Israel attacked Iranian fuel depots early in the war. In the wake of these attacks, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth distanced himself from the attacks, stating that “in this particular case, these were not ours.”
Since the Israeli attack on South Pars, Iran’s retaliatory actions have caused severe damage to Qatar’s largest gas facility – the largest in the world – while also attacking a Saudi refinery and forcing the United Arab Emirates to shut down its own gas facilities.
The retaliatory attacks caused Brent crude prices to surge more than 13% in the week since Israel attacked South Pars.
Trump’s late-night social media posts caused oil prices to rise further to $114 a barrel on Thursday morning, the highest level since they peaked at $119 in June 2022 during the war in Ukraine.
Iran has now issued a call for the evacuation of Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery and Jubail petrochemical complex, the United Arab Emirates’ Hussen gas field, Qatar’s Mesaid petrochemical complex, Mesaid Holding and the Ras Laffan refinery.
A warning published by Iranian state media declared: “These centers have been directly and legally targeted and will be targeted in the coming hours. Therefore, all citizens, residents and employees are asked to leave these areas immediately and move to a safe distance immediately.”
