Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a press conference yesterday, called for the presence of troops in Iran, a move that is likely to escalate the war, launched by the Zionist state and its United States ally, to a new level.
Meanwhile, as Muslims in the Middle East mark Eid al-Fitr and the end of the holy month of Ramadan, missile exchanges between the warring parties continue unabated.
Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran on Friday as Iranians also marked Nowruz (the Persian New Year). Strikes were heard around Iran’s capital.
Overnight, Iran launched rounds of missiles at Jerusalem.
Kuwait’s state-owned oil company confirmed its oil refinery had been hit by an Iranian drone. The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said Friday it was responding to incoming threats from Iran and warned residents about interceptors taking out incoming missiles.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence reported the interception and destruction of several drones in the Gulf region of the country. Bahrain’s government asked residents to go to the nearest shelters after falling shrapnel set fire to a building.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s energy minister confirmed that Iran’s attack on its Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility (LNG) would cost 20 billion US dollars and take years to repair.
The attacks occurred a day after Israel pledged to refrain from more strikes on a key Iranian gas field, and Iran intensified attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf.
Netanyahu, at the press conference, suggested the need for a “ground component” in the war on Iran and said ‘you can’t do revolutions from the air”.
The Guardian reported that Netanyahu denied that Donald Trump was “dragged” into the war by Israel amid growing signs that the US and Israel were not aligned on their war aims.
“Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?” the Israeli prime minister said, adding: “I misled no one.”
Netanyahu also stated that Israel “acted alone” in striking Iran’s South Pars gas field, though he didn’t address whether or not he had told Trump about the attack beforehand. “President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out,” he added.
Trump has distanced himself from Israel’s attack on the world’s largest gasfield (which he claimed on Wednesday that Washington “knew nothing” about), and confirmed today that he told Netanyahu to stop attacking Iran’s energy facilities.
Iranian officials said the country would not hesitate to hit back if its energy facilities were attacked again.