US President Donald Trump wants no more strikes on Iranian energy sites after Israel's attack on Wednesday targeting a vital Iranian gas field, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.
According to the officials, Trump, who knew about the Israeli strike on South Pars in advance, supported it as a message to Tehran over its blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. The President believes Iran got the message and is now against attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, the officials stated.
At the same time, those officials also told The Wall Street Journal that Trump could once again be open to targeting more Iranian energy facilities depending on Tehran's future actions in the strategic waterway.
The Iranian Fars news agency reported several powerful explosions at the refineries in South Pars earlier on Wednesday. According to the report, several containers and gas facility areas were directly hit, as well as various stages of the refining process.
Workers at the facilities were evacuated to shelters and safe areas, while numerous firefighting teams attempted to control the massive fires that broke out at the site.
Trump commented on the strike and wrote on Truth Social, "Remember, for all of those absolute ‘fools’ out there, Iran is considered, by everyone, to be the NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR. We are rapidly putting them out of business!"
On Tuesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that its forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz, as part of Operation Epic Fury.
“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait," said CENTCOM.
Trump demanded over the weekend that NATO countries take part in protecting ships and oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. However, a large number of alliance members swiftly announced they would refuse the request.
On Monday, Trump again repeated his calls, noting that "many countries' economies depend on the strait."
He called on "other nations whose economy depend on the strait, far more than ours. We get less than one percent of oil from the Strait. Many of the Europeans get quite a bit. So we want them to come and help us with the strait. It is in very good shape. We've already taken care of Iran, but now, because of the fact that a single terrorist can put something in the water, or shoot a missile, and it's fairly close range because it's a small area and Iran has used that as an economic weapon."
Trump added, “The level of enthusiasm ... for forty years we have been protecting them, and they don't want to get involved with something that is very minor. And with all of the protecting of countries, we'll protect them and if ever needed, they won't be there for us. I've always known that."