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Welcome to the NewsHour.
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Iranian strikes on oil and gas facilities across the Persian Gulf since shockwaves through
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global energy markets today, a day after Israel struck Iran's main natural gas complex.
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For his part, President Trump sought to reassure Americans as gas prices surge, even as the
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Pentagon appears poised to ask Congress for up to $200 billion for the war effort.
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Our special correspondent, Leyla Malama Allen, has more.
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Today, across the Middle East, oil fields inflames. Iran ramped up its attacks on the
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economic lifeblood of the region, striking an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, and several
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in Kuwait, sending the price of Brent crude oil to a staggering $199 a barrel this morning.
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In response to an unprecedented Israeli air strike on the South Park's gas reserve,
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a mammoth deposit of gas beneath the Persian Gulf that could supply the entire world for over a
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decade. The Iranian-cashery Cohen Reserve is the biggest domestic gas supplier for Iran.
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President Trump today condemned the strike.
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He talks to Prime Minister Nanyah about attacking oil and gas fields.
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Yeah, I did. I told him, don't do that. And he won't do that. We didn't discuss.
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You know, we do. We're independent. We get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion,
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he'll do something, and if I don't like it. And so we're not doing that anymore.
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I'm sitting with Japanese Prime Minister Saneye Takaichi. Trump defended the American decision
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not to tell allies it would attack Iran with a surprising reference.
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One thing you don't want to signal too much, you know, when we go in, we went in very hard,
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and we didn't tell anybody about it, because we wanted
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surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan?
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Okay, why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?
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And today, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Arashi vowed revenge,
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posted on X, that Iran would, quote, use zero restraint if our infrastructures are struck again.
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After Trump last night, posted on truth social that the US had no knowledge of the attack,
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and that no more strikes would be launched against South Paris.
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Unless Qatar was targeted again, quote, in which instance the United States of America,
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with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South
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Paris gasfield at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.
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Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel acted alone in its attack
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on South Paris. Israel acted alone against the Slaviyah gas compound. Fact number two,
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President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out.
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Iran, yesterday launched massive retaliatory attacks against the world's largest
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liquefied gas export facility in Qatar. Causing a fire so huge, it illuminated the entire city
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skyline, forcing the Gulf nation to completely suspend its liquefied natural gas production,
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which supplies 20 percent of the worldwide market. In total, six refineries, facilities and oil
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fields have been attacked and damaged in the region in the last 24 hours, as well as oil refineries
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in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. As Treasury Secretary Scott percent today voiced a
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surprising proposal to alleviate the spike in oil prices. In the coming days, we may
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unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water. It's about 140 million barrels, so depending on how
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you count it, that's 10 days to two weeks of supply, that the Iranians had been pushing out,
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that would have all gone to China. In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the
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Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign.
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And the House pressed the intelligence community on whether the United States closest partner in
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the war, Israel had the same goals. What does the intelligence community assess Israel's goals
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in this war to be? And are those goals aligned with the goals of the United States?
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We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on
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disabling the Iranian leadership and taking out several members, obviously,
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beginning with the Ayatollah and the Supreme Leader. And they continue to focus on that effort.
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While at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth commented on the Pentagon's reported
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request for an additional $200 billion, nearly a quarter of annual defense spending for the war.
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It takes money to kill bad guys. So we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that
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we're properly funded. To date, the U.S. has spent $15 billion over the first 19 days of this war.
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But in those 19 days, the toll and trauma on civilians in the region has been immense.
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During Ramadan here in the Gulf, after breaking their fast, friends gather late into the night
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to talk and reflect. But this year, there's just one topic of conversation.
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At this madness or gathering place in downtown Doha, Arabs from across the region have come together.
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Rahim Al-Romahi is a cutlery engineer and entrepreneur. He fears an escalating conflict could destroy
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the success Gulf nations have worked so hard to build. I really hope that these events will not
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affect the economy of our country. In peacetime, we can innovate, but in wartime, we stop innovating,
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as we can only think about survival.
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As Eid approaches, usually a time of joyful celebration and presence, civilians under fire across
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the Middle East pray for just one gift. Peace. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Leyla Malana Allen in Doha, Qatar.