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Agence France-Presse

US President Joe Biden on Friday advised Israel against striking Iran’s oil facilities, saying he was trying to rally the world to avoid the escalating prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.
But his predecessor Donald Trump, currently campaigning for another term in power, went so far as to suggest Israel should “hit” the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.
Making a surprise first appearance in the White House briefing room, Biden added that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu “should remember” US support for Israel when deciding on next steps.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oilfields,” Biden told reporters, when asked about his comments a day earlier that Washington was discussing the possibility of such strikes with its ally.
Biden added that the Israelis “have not concluded” how they were going to respond to a huge ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel on Tuesday.
The price of oil had jumped after Biden’s remarks on Thursday.
Any long-term rise could be hugely damaging for Biden’s Vice-President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican former US president Donald Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.


Meanwhile Trump, campaigning in North Carolina, offered a far more provocative view of what he thinks a response to Iran should be, referencing a question posed to Biden this week about the possibility of Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear programme.
“They asked him, ‘what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran?’ And he goes, ‘As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you want to hit, right?” Trump told a town hall style event in Fayetteville, near a major US military base.
Biden “got that one wrong,” Trump said.
“When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later,” Trump added.
Trump has spoken little about the recent escalation in tensions in the Middle East. But he issued a scathing statement this week, holding Biden and Harris responsible for the crisis.
Biden’s appearance at the famed briefing room podium was not announced in advance, taking reporters by surprise. He has never spoken there before in the nearly four years of his presidency.
It also comes at a tense time as he prepares to leave office with the situation boiling over in the Middle East and political criticism at home over his handling of a recent hurricane that struck the US southeast.
Biden said he was doing his best to avoid a full-scale conflagration in the Middle East, where Israel is bombing Lebanon in a bid to wipe out the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
“The main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world and our allies into participating … to tamp this down,” he told reporters.
“But when you have [Iranian] proxies as irrational as Hezbollah and the Houthis [of Yemen] and it’s a hard thing to determine.”
Biden however had tough words for Netanyahu, with whom he has had rocky relations as he seeks to manage Israel’s response following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Israeli premier has repeatedly ignored Biden’s calls for restraint on Lebanon, and on Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.




Biden deflected a question on whether he believed Netanyahu was hanging back on signing a Middle East peace deal in a bid to influence the US presidential election.
“No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none. And I think Bibi should remember that,” Biden said.
“And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that.”
Biden said he had still not spoken to Netanyahu since the Iranian attack, which involved some 200 missiles, but added that their teams were in “constant contact”.
“They’re not going to make a decision immediately, and so we’re going to wait to see when they want to talk,” the US leader added.
Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, prompting Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay a hefty price.
Iran said it was in retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 attacks, saying it is doing so in support of Gaza.


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Middle East

Joe Biden warns Israel against Iran oil strikes as war fears mount

US President Joe Biden makes a surprise appearance during the daily press briefing at the White House on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Oil soars on Biden remarks about possible Israeli strike on Iran facilities

A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf in July 2005. Photo: Reuters

People look at the remains of an Iranian missile in the Negev desert near Arad on Thursday, after an Iranian attack on Israel. Photo: AFP

Khamenei says Iran allies ‘will not back down’ as Israel steps up strikes on Hezbollah

A picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. Photo: EPA-EFE


A man runs for cover following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: AP



Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Iranian judiciary chief Mohsen Ejeie. Photo: Iranian Supreme Leader Office via EPA-EFE 

People carry their belongings next to rubble, after an Israeli strike near the Masnaa border crossing with Syria. Photo: Reuters

Destruction in the Mreijeh neighbourhood, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: AFP

Israeli soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. Photo: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters

Backed into a corner by Israel, Iran may quicken nuclear weapons push

Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel on October 2. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Deadliest West Bank strike in decades kills at least 18, Palestinians say

The aftermath of an Israeli air strike in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters

Palestinians inspect the damage from the Israeli strike. Photo: Reuters

News

World

The leader says he doesn’t know if Netanyahu is avoiding a Middle East peace deal in a bid to influence the US presidential election


The leader says he doesn’t know if Netanyahu is avoiding a Middle East peace deal in a bid to influence the US presidential election.
