Outgoing US President Joe Biden on Thursday said that he was discussing probable strikes on Iranian oil fields with Israel after it was attacked by Tehran's ballistic missile on October 1.
Biden, while addressing reporters at the White House, responded to the question of whether the US would back the retaliatory strikes on Iranian oil facilities. He said, “We’re in a discussion of that. I think — I think that would be a little — anyway.”
Reports indicate that the crude oil prices have jumped following his statement that the US and Israel were considering a possible direct Israeli strike on Iran’s oil facilities.
Before boarding Air Force One for a trip to Florida and Georgia to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, Biden was asked about the ongoing hostilities between Iran and Israel.
As per the White House official statement, Biden said, “First of all, we don’t allow Israel. We advise Israel. And nothing is going to happen today. We’ll talk about that later.”
Biden had earlier said that he would not support any Israeli action against Iranian nuclear sites. When asked about it, he said, “The answer is no.”
“We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do,” he added, noting that all G7 countries agree that Israel has “a right to respond, but they should respond in proportion.”
Biden said he had called for an emergency meeting of the G7 nations, and that they were working on a joint statement, which will be issued soon.
“Iran has gone way out of — I mean, is way off the board. We’re putting together a joint statement. It hasn’t been finalised yet. It will be done soon, probably by the time we land. And there are going to be some sanctions imposed on Iran,” Biden informed reporters.
He said he would be speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing situation.
The Iranian regime has been under pressure for a long time, and with Hezbollah acting as its eyes and ears against Israel, it had no choice but to retaliate, experts say.
While Iran has repeatedly said that their actions were not intended to hurt civilians or cause any damage to civilian infrastructure, the action as per Iran was taken to limit Israeli Defence Force’s ability to conduct airstrikes in Lebanon and Gaza.
However, Netanyahu, who is struggling to convince the international community over Israel’s actions in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of around
42, 000 civilians, including children and women, has threatened to respond with more aggressive means against Iran.
The tensions in the Middle East have reached boiling point, with Israel’s ongoing pursuit of achieving military objectives receiving worldwide criticism.
On the other hand, Iran has sought attention from Russia, China, and India to de-escalate the tensions. While China and Russia are less likely to have any major impact on both escalation and de-escalation, India becomes a key player as it enjoys cordial relations with the US.
Experts point out that any further attack on Iran will completely jeopardise safety in the entire region and disrupt the global economy.
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