The US’s “clumsy” handling of attacks on Iran’s energy assets has handed Tehran a lever of escalation dominance in a rapidly spiralling war, two Arab officials told Middle East Eye.
“First, Trump misjudged Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. He hasn't fixed that. Now, he called Iran’s bluff by approving an Israeli attack on energy production. The US is showing itself to be a clumsy ally,” an Arab official told MEE.
Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field earlier this week prompted what energy analysts have long war-gamed as a worst-case scenario: tit-for-tat strikes on complex and expensive energy production sites.
Iran retaliated to the Israeli strike by bombing Qatar’s Ras Laffan natural gas facilities.
“The South Pars attack opened a can of worms,” another Arab official told MEE. “This is another red line that has been crossed. Iran didn’t know they could close the Strait of Hormuz. Well, now they know they can take out production facilities, too.”
