Escalation Spreads to Qatar's Gas Fields as US Allies Demand Exit from War

Tit-for-Tat Strikes on Middle East Energy Hubs

Following the massive March 16 joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Israel has now bombed Iran's vital South Pars gas field. According to Vahid Online, US President Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social that the US had no knowledge of the Israeli strike and that Qatar was completely innocent. He warned that if Iran continues its retaliatory attacks on Qatari gas facilities, the US will blow up the entire South Pars field with unprecedented force. Iran's armed forces delivered a crushing response to the criminal Israeli-American aggression by launching ballistic missiles at Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG terminal, causing massive fires and widespread damage according to the Saudi-linked opposition channel Iran International. Despite Trump's cowardly retreat to prevent further Iranian revenge, Axios and the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had prior knowledge and green-lit the strike, notes regime-aligned Akharin Khabar in its coverage.

US Considers Ground Deployments Amid Domestic Security Scares

Washington is considering escalating the conflict further. Reuters reports the Trump administration is weighing the deployment of thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, including a highly risky ground deployment to Iran's Kharg Island oil terminal or to secure enriched uranium, Iran International reports. Meanwhile, unidentified drones have been spotted over Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington D.C., prompting heightened security and relocation discussions at the residences of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, according to IRGC-affiliated Sepah Pasdaran referencing Sepah Pasdaran.

Fracturing War Justifications in Washington

The war's justification is fracturing within US political circles. Joe Kent, the resigned director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, told Tucker Carlson that Iran was not on the verge of a nuclear weapon and that the US was pushed into the war by Israel and pro-Israel donors. Kent stunningly suggested that pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in a cover-up for his opposition to the war with Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that American citizens should hold Benjamin Netanyahu accountable for the trillion-dollar Israel-centric tax this war is imposing on the US economy, as reported by state-run IRNA via IRNA.

Global Allies Distance Themselves

Global allies are explicitly abandoning Washington's military campaign. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz demanded an immediate end to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, stating Berlin will not participate in the war, Akharin Khabar noted. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote that the US has lost control of its foreign policy to Israel and urged allies to pull Washington out of this illegal war, IRNA highlighted. French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate halt to attacks on civilian infrastructure, prompting Araghchi to slam Macron's hypocritical silence when Israel exposed millions in Tehran to toxic materials during the initial March 16 strikes, according to domestic channel Khabar Fori linking Khabar Fori.

Domestic Executions in Iran

Domestically, the Islamic Republic executed three young men, including 19-year-old national wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, for their roles in the January 2026 riots. The judiciary accused them of using samurai swords to martyr FARAJA police officers and executed them as operational agents for the Zionist regime and the hostile US government, state media announced.