Pentagon poised to ask Congress for up to $200 billion to fund Iran war

Welcome to the NewsHour.

Iranian strikes on oil and gas facilities across the Persian Gulf since shockwaves through

global energy markets today, a day after Israel struck Iran's main natural gas complex.

For his part, President Trump sought to reassure Americans as gas prices surge, even as the

Pentagon appears poised to ask Congress for up to $200 billion for the war effort.

Our special correspondent, Leyla Malama Allen, has more.

Today, across the Middle East, oil fields inflames. Iran ramped up its attacks on the

economic lifeblood of the region, striking an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, and several

in Kuwait, sending the price of Brent crude oil to a staggering $199 a barrel this morning.

In response to an unprecedented Israeli air strike on the South Park's gas reserve,

a mammoth deposit of gas beneath the Persian Gulf that could supply the entire world for over a

decade. The Iranian-cashery Cohen Reserve is the biggest domestic gas supplier for Iran.

President Trump today condemned the strike.

He talks to Prime Minister Nanyah about attacking oil and gas fields.

Yeah, I did. I told him, don't do that. And he won't do that. We didn't discuss.

You know, we do. We're independent. We get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion,

he'll do something, and if I don't like it. And so we're not doing that anymore.

I'm sitting with Japanese Prime Minister Saneye Takaichi. Trump defended the American decision

not to tell allies it would attack Iran with a surprising reference.

One thing you don't want to signal too much, you know, when we go in, we went in very hard,

and we didn't tell anybody about it, because we wanted

surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan?

Okay, why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?

And today, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Arashi vowed revenge,

posted on X, that Iran would, quote, use zero restraint if our infrastructures are struck again.

After Trump last night, posted on truth social that the US had no knowledge of the attack,

and that no more strikes would be launched against South Paris.

Unless Qatar was targeted again, quote, in which instance the United States of America,

with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South

Paris gasfield at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel acted alone in its attack

on South Paris. Israel acted alone against the Slaviyah gas compound. Fact number two,

President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out.

Iran, yesterday launched massive retaliatory attacks against the world's largest

liquefied gas export facility in Qatar. Causing a fire so huge, it illuminated the entire city

skyline, forcing the Gulf nation to completely suspend its liquefied natural gas production,

which supplies 20 percent of the worldwide market. In total, six refineries, facilities and oil

fields have been attacked and damaged in the region in the last 24 hours, as well as oil refineries

in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. As Treasury Secretary Scott percent today voiced a

surprising proposal to alleviate the spike in oil prices. In the coming days, we may

unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water. It's about 140 million barrels, so depending on how

you count it, that's 10 days to two weeks of supply, that the Iranians had been pushing out,

that would have all gone to China. In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the

Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign.

And the House pressed the intelligence community on whether the United States closest partner in

the war, Israel had the same goals. What does the intelligence community assess Israel's goals

in this war to be? And are those goals aligned with the goals of the United States?

We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on

disabling the Iranian leadership and taking out several members, obviously,

beginning with the Ayatollah and the Supreme Leader. And they continue to focus on that effort.

While at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth commented on the Pentagon's reported

request for an additional $200 billion, nearly a quarter of annual defense spending for the war.

It takes money to kill bad guys. So we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that

we're properly funded. To date, the U.S. has spent $15 billion over the first 19 days of this war.

But in those 19 days, the toll and trauma on civilians in the region has been immense.

During Ramadan here in the Gulf, after breaking their fast, friends gather late into the night

to talk and reflect. But this year, there's just one topic of conversation.

At this madness or gathering place in downtown Doha, Arabs from across the region have come together.

Rahim Al-Romahi is a cutlery engineer and entrepreneur. He fears an escalating conflict could destroy

the success Gulf nations have worked so hard to build. I really hope that these events will not

affect the economy of our country. In peacetime, we can innovate, but in wartime, we stop innovating,

as we can only think about survival.

As Eid approaches, usually a time of joyful celebration and presence, civilians under fire across

the Middle East pray for just one gift. Peace. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Leyla Malana Allen in Doha, Qatar.