Shortly after the war broke out, Qatar announced the shutdown of its natural gas liquefaction facility due to an Iranian strike. The consequences were immediate: the global gas surplus vanished and energy prices surged.
The United States is extremely sensitive to energy prices, especially this president, who returned to power on the shockwaves of runaway inflation.
But then someone briefed the president that it might be part of a broader scheme: coordination between Iran and Qatar to close the facility in order to pressure an end to the war. According to the claim, Trump was furious and made clear it would not continue.
The plight of the Qataris is touching: without Iran there is no need for a forward American base in Doha, and without such a base the influence of the gas emirate evaporates. Perhaps that is why, since the start of the war, the Qataris have sent several unusually conciliatory messages to Israel. Suddenly Israeli bombings are no longer described on Al Jazeera as genocide.
