When asked if the United States has asked Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities, US President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would not 'negotiate in public'. This came after the US President contributed to a surge in global oil prices earlier in the day saying Washington was discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities.
A US official later said Washington does not believe Israel has decided yet how to respond to Iran, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
What Biden Said?
When he was asked about any possible Israeli strikes on Iran's oil infrastructure, Biden, in an off-the-cuff remark earlier on Thursday, said, "We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway," However, soon after the comments were made, the benchmark Brent crude oil price reportedly shot up by 5 per cent.
Israel has been weighing options to respond to Tehran's ballistic missile attack on Tuesday, and the US had said it would work with Israel to make sure Iran faced severe consequences.
Later, when asked if he was telling Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities, Biden said, "I don't negotiate in public."
When quizzed about worries on the rise in oil prices due to any possible Israeli strike on Iran's oil facilities, he said, "If a hurricane hits, prices are going to go up. I don’t know; who knows."
The US president earlier clarified his government did not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites.
Context
During a year of cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 2,000 people in Lebanon, most in the past two weeks, and displaced more than 1.2 million people there. Israel began a ground incursion in Lebanon this week, saying its aim is to defeat Hezbollah and return some 60,000 evacuated Israelis to their homes in the north.
Israel is also waging a war in Gaza in which nearly 42,000 people have been killed and nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million population displaced. That followed a deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants.