Donald Trump’s social media put-down of Israel for hitting an Iranian gas field and escalating the conflict should come as no surprise. It may finally be dawning on the president that Israeli and US interests in the region are not fully aligned.
Israel hit Iran’s South Pars gas field – the world’s largest – on Wednesday.
In retaliation, Iran bombed Ras Laffan in Qatar, as well as a host of other sites across the Gulf.
Mr Trump’s anger at the domino effect was directed at Israel.
“The United States knew nothing about this particular attack,” said Mr Trump on social media overnight, as world energy prices once again soared. “NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL,” he added.
It is not the first time that Israel has escalated without US permission. Marco Rubio suggested at the beginning of the war that Israel had started it, dragging the US in afterwards.
Then there was the killing, not just of Iran’s supreme leader, but all his potential replacements. This prompted Mr Trump to note early on that “most of the people we had in mind [to lead Iran] are dead”.
And when analysts started pointing to the surviving Iranian intelligence chief last week as a possible pragmatist with whom Mr Trump might negotiate, he too was assassinated.