What is the South Pars gas field in Iran Trump threatened to ‘destroy’?

Published March 19, 2026 12:04pm ET



An Israeli airstrike on the world’s largest natural gas field in South Pars, Iran, has raised fears of escalatory attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East.

The Wednesday strike on South Pars marked the first U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian energy production infrastructure of the war, and triggered a series of retaliatory strikes on Gulf oil and gas infrastructure. Despite reports that the strike was conducted in coordination with Washington, President Donald Trump said Jerusalem had acted unilaterally, and urged Iran not to retaliate further against Gulf energy infrastructure. He then threatened to destroy the field if Iran continued with its retaliation.

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