Trump issues threat over major Iranian gas field, Moscow warns of ‘tipping point’ (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
The US will “massively blow up” Iran’s South Pars gas field if Tehran continues strikes on Qatari energy facilities, President Donald Trump has warned. South Pars – shared with Qatar, where it is known as the North Field – is the world’s largest natural gas field.
Iran earlier struck Qatar’s main LNG hub at Ras Laffan after Israel targeted facilities linked to the South Pars field. Doha said the attack caused “extensive damage” and expelled Iranian security and military attaches.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said Israel had struck “out of anger” and claimed no further Israeli attacks would target the South Pars field – but warned that the US would destroy “the entirety” of the field if Tehran targets Qatar again.
Foreign ministers from 12 Arab and Muslim countries have meanwhile called on Iran to “immediately” halt attacks on civilian, energy, and transport infrastructure.
France has urged a moratorium on strikes targeting energy facilities in the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it was “sad” that French calls for de-escalation came only after Tehran struck Qatar, lamenting that the West had still not condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Tehran has since sent letters to the UN protesting Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE for allowing US forces to operate from their territory.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the exchange of strikes on gas infrastructure as a “tipping point” in the escalating conflict.
Here are the latest developments:
- Araghchi has condemned reports that the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in war funding from Congress, calling it the “tip of the iceberg” of a “trillion-dollar ‘Israel First tax’” on Americans.
- European gas prices have jumped to levels last seen during the 2022 energy crisis, with Dutch TTF futures rising nearly 30% in a day after Iran’s strike on Ras Laffan. Qatar is Europe’s second-largest LNG supplier.
- Oil prices continued to surge due to Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure, with Brent crude climbing above $112 per barrel and US WTI nearing $100.
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
19 March 2026
09:26 GMTBritish military officers have been sent to the US to help plan how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, The Times has reported, citing defense officials.
A small team of UK planners has reportedly been deployed to US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, to develop options for allowing shipping through the chokepoint amid concerns it may be mined.
Sources said the UK is unlikely to send Royal Navy ships to escort vessels while fighting continues, citing the risks, but is discussing possible support with the US and European allies if tensions ease. A senior UK defense official described the situation as “incredibly fluid,” adding that few nations would be willing to send warships into such an environment.
Trump has criticized countries, including the UK, for not backing his call to reopen the waterway, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted he will not allow British forces to be drawn into a “wider war.”
- 09:21 GMT
E.J. Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and Donald Trump’s former nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has warned that the US economy may not withstand a war with Iran.
“I don’t think this is an economy that is going to be able to handle $100 a barrel for oil, it’s just not,” he told the Financial Times. “The economy is weaker than we thought it was, and inflation is worse than we thought it was. The lower energy prices that we saw in 2025 helped put downward pressure on prices throughout the economy. Now... we’re going to see higher energy prices have exactly the opposite effect and put upward pressure on prices throughout the economy.”
Trump nominated Antoni to lead the bureau in August 2025, but withdrew the nomination a month later with no explanation.
- 09:20 GMT
The Lebanese government cannot disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah while Israel is bombing the country, France’s special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has said, arguing that only negotiations can resolve the crisis.
“Israel occupied Lebanon for a very long time and failed to eradicate Hezbollah’s military capacity. Therefore, they cannot now ask the Lebanese government to do that job in three days under bombardment,” he told France Info. “There is a process of negotiation and discussion that is possible, but all the parties must want it.”
Israel has previously rejected an offer of direct talks from Beirut, media reports said, citing sources.
- 08:44 GMT
Multiple unidentified drones have been spotted over a military base in Washington, DC where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reside, the Washington Post has reported, citing sources.
The drones were detected over Fort McNair on a single night within the past ten days, and their origin remains unclear. The sightings prompted a White House meeting and heightened security measures, with officials reportedly discussing relocating Rubio and Hegseth, though neither has moved as of Wednesday, a senior administration official told the outlet.
- 08:28 GMT
Rescue workers in Tehran have pulled a surviving child from beneath the rubble following recent strikes, according to footage released on Wednesday. The child has been taken to hospital for treatment, while the fate of his relatives remains unknown.
Earlier this week Amnesty International said its investigation had found that the US strike on a school in Minab, which killed over 170 people, most of them children, violated international humanitarian law. US officials have said the Pentagon is investigating the incident, while public statements from Washington have stopped short of acknowledging that American forces carried out the attack. - 07:49 GMT
European natural gas prices have jumped to levels last seen during the 2022 energy crisis, with Dutch TTF futures rising nearly 30% in a day after Iran’s missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub. Qatar is Europe’s second-largest LNG supplier.
Traders are now pricing in a worst-case scenario, with fears that Iranian strikes could spread to energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, experts say.
- 07:49 GMT
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has described French President Emmanuel Macron’s stance on the conflict as “sad.”
Responding to Macron’s call for a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, Araghchi said the French leader “has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” and only urged de-escalation after Tehran’s strike on a Qatari LNG facility.
Macron has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran. He did not condemn Israel when it blew up fuel storage in Tehran, exposing millions to toxins. His current "concern" didn't follow Israel's attack on our gas facilities. It follows our retaliation. Sad! https://t.co/lyfGbRm9NB
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 19, 2026 - 07:44 GMT
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has branded former British Prime Minister John Major a “hellish hypocrite” after he criticized the US-Israeli operation against Iran.
Speaking at King’s College London, Major said there had been no diplomatic effort to secure a UN resolution providing a legal basis for the war.
Zakharova responded on Telegram, saying Major had “forgotten” his support for the 2003 US-UK invasion of Iraq, which also lacked UN backing.
“Now, criticizing US and Israeli aggression against Iran, he’s going to argue that this has never happened before? No way. The sacramental ‘here we go again’ is more appropriate here,” she wrote.
- 07:38 GMT
A fire has broken out at the Umm Qasr naval base in southern Iraq after a suspected Iranian drone strike overnight, an Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera, adding that the drone hit a water treatment station. Footage circulating on social media and verified by the outlet showed flames and smoke rising from the impact site.
The base is located near the Umm Qasr Port, Iraq’s primary maritime gateway for bulk cargo and industrial supplies.
مصادر أمنية: هجوم بطائرة مسيرة على قاعدة تابعة للقوات البحرية العراقية بالقرب من ميناء أم قصر ولا أنباء عن وقوع إصابات أو أضرارتابعونا على تيلغرام: https://t.co/xx4hh8LPGe#أخبار_UTVpic.twitter.com/aaLMxUmKdV
— Utv (@UtvIraq) March 18, 2026
