The U.S. is discussing strikes on Iran’s oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran’s missile attack on Israel, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, while Israel’s military hit Beirut with new air strikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
As Israel weighs its options after its arch-foe Iran launched its largest ever assault on Tuesday, Biden was asked whether he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities.
“We’re discussing that,” Biden told reporters.
His comments contributed to a surge in global oil prices, and rising Middle East tensions have made traders worry about potential supply disruptions.
“There is nothing going to happen today,” Biden said. On Wednesday, the president said he would not support any Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told CNN on Thursday his country has “a lot of options” for retaliation and would show Tehran its strength “soon”.
A U.S. official said Washington does not believe Israel has decided yet how to respond to Iran.
Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiye, a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in parts of the district, residents and security sources said.
The air raids targeted Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, rumoured successor to assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing three Israeli officials. Safieddine’s fate was not clear, he said.
Israel’s military declined comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Iran will pay for Tuesday’s missile attack, and Washington said it would work with its longtime ally to ensure Iran faced “severe consequences.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha, said on Thursday that Tehran would be ready to respond.
“Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces,” he said.
(Reuters)
