Wednesday’s attack on the South Pars gas field in Iran has been framed as the beginning of a rift between Trump and Netanyahu, but is it really?
On Monday, U.S. allies indicated they were largely uninterested in engaging in the conflict after Trump took to Truth Social saying that countries relying on the Strait of Hormuz “must take care of that passage” and that the United States would “help — A LOT!”
Two days later, a major airstrike hits the South Pars gas field—the largest natural gas field in the world.
Trump then distances the United States from the conflict, saying on Truth Social that the U.S. “knew nothing” about the attack and placing the blame on Israel.
After Wednesday’s attack, global oil prices spiked to a three-and-a-half-year high on Thursday before easing slightly Friday, placing direct financial pressure on U.S. allies.
So while some analysts interpret this as a rift between the U.S. and Israel, what it really may be is a clever diversionary tactic in which Trump positions Netanyahu as the visible actor in the South Pars strike—potentially compelling otherwise reluctant allies to join the war while also seeking to bolster public sentiment among the American populace, where support for the conflict is lower than in Israel.
