Yesterday, it was reported that Israel had struck the South Pars gas field--the largest natural gas field in the world--notwithstanding that Trump has previously told Israel to not attack the oil and gas infrastructure in Iran. From the Institute for the Study of War (footnotes omitted):
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck Iran’s most important energy infrastructure, including facilities linked to the South Pars natural gas field and the Asaluyeh processing hub in Bushehr Province on March 18. These facilities are central to Iran’s domestic natural gas supply and broader energy system, which supports a significant portion of Iran’s economic activity and regime revenue. Iran consumes roughly 94 percent of its natural gas production internally, according to data by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, meaning disruptions will primarily strain domestic supply. Damage to these facilities will likely disrupt Iran’s electricity generation capacity, given their role in supplying fuel to the power sector. Over 90 percent of Iran’s electricity is generated by gas-powered thermal plants. Israeli media reported on March 18 that the strikes reportedly damaged up to one-fifth of Iran’s gas processing capacity. Israel previously struck Iranian energy infrastructure, including gas processing facilities linked to the South Pars field and the Fajr-e Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr Province, during the June 2025 Israel-Iran War.
Trump apparently posted on his Truth Social account that Israel had attacked the gas field "out of anger," that the United States and Qatar had no knowledge of the attack, and Israel had promised to make no more attacks on the gas field; but, he also warned, if there were any more attacks on Qatar, the U.S. will "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field...." The AP reports, however, that the Administration did have foreknowledge of the attack:
The United States was informed about Israel’s plans to strike Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, but did not take part in it, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say if the Trump administration agreed with the Israeli decision to attack the gas field — part of the world’s largest such resource and a pillar of Iran’s energy supplies.
All this must be taken with a grain of salt, though, as the AP is not the most reliable of sources when it comes to reporting on Trump and unnamed sources could just be some buddy of the reporter who has a friend, who knows a guy, who ... well, you get the idea.
In other news, it is being reported that Israel has closed holy sites within Old Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which, tradition states, marks the tomb where Christ was interned after His crucifixion and where His resurrection occurred. Although there are reports stating that this is unprecedented and has never happened before, this is incorrect: a similar closure occurred in June 2025 when Israel and Iran were fighting. The church/shrine has been destroyed several times over its history as well. The Church is very important for several Christian denominations, including the Greek Orthodox, for Easter celebrations and worship, so there is an effort to convince Israel to at least allow some limited access to the church for Easter.
The problem is that once a government shuts down a church or shuts down worship for an emergency, it becomes easier to justify doing the same subsequently--the whole camel's nose in the tent.
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