After
saying Wednesday that he would not back Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said his administration and Israel are weighing the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil infrastructure in response to this week's missile barrage targeting the key American ally.
Asked by a reporter outside the White House in Washington, D.C. if he supported an Israeli attack on Iran's oil infrastructure following Tuesday's
missile attack on Israel, Biden said, "We're discussing that."
"There's nothing that's going to happen today," he added.
The price of crude oil shot up 5% to $77 per barrel on Thursday following Biden's remarks.
Mulling the possible implications of higher oil prices on next month's U.S. presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, Jacobin's Branko Mercetic said on social media Thursday, "If the president was intentionally trying to help Trump win, what would be the difference between how he's acting now?"
Iran's missile strike, in which no Israelis were killed or seriously harmed, came in response to a series of Israeli assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Iran and Lebanon.
Responding to the Iranian attack, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari
said Tuesday that there will be "consequences" and that Israel would "will act in the time and place that we choose."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
vowed Iran "will pay a heavy price" for its attack.
Iran, meanwhile,
warned that any Israeli attack on its territory would result in a "stronger response" than Tuesday's strike.
Some Republican members of U.S. Congress are pushing Biden to attack Iran.
"It is not enough to issue statements," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday.
"The Biden administration has repeatedly threatened Iran with 'severe consequences' for its campaign of terror against Israel and the United States, but failed to impose them," he added. "It has pledged 'ironclad' support for Israel, only to delay and withhold the security assistance that would give this pledge any weight."
Biden's comments came as Israel advised residents of 20 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate, suggesting that Israeli forces could ramp up their invasion of its northern neighbor, from which Hezbollah has been launching rockets in support of Palestinian resistance against Israel's war on Gaza—for which the key U.S. ally is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Thousands of Lebanese have been killed or wounded by Israeli attacks. More than 148,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israeli forces in Gaza.
