Biden says US discussing possible Israeli attacks on Iranian oil facilities

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US is discussing with Israel potential strikes on Iranian oil facilities after Tehran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.

"First of all, we don't allow Israel. We advise Israel. And there's nothing going to happen today. We'll talk about that later," Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if the US would allow Tel Aviv to retaliate against Iran.

Asked about proposals for Israel to hit Iranian oil facilities, a key revenue source for Tehran, Biden said: "We're in discussion of that," adding: "I think that would be a little ... ." He did not continue his thought, and it is unclear if he was going to voice trepidation over the proposal.

Iran has vowed that its response will escalate if Israel retaliates for Tuesday's attack, which it said was in response to Israel's killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Abbas Nilforoshan.

“We are absolutely against bloodshed. We have always said: we want peace, we want calm. We do not want blood to be spilled in any country. But Israelis pushing us to this," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday.

Tuesday's missile attack caused casualties, property damage and led to the closure of Israel’s airspace, with millions of Israelis rushing to shelters.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed more than 1,000 victims and injured over 2,950, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,700 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack led Hamas last October.​​​​​​​

The international community has long warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.