Biden Previously Said He Wouldn’t
Support Strikes on Nuclear Facilities
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
(October 3, 2024) — President Biden said Thursday that the US and Israel were discussing the possibility of striking Iran’s oil facilities in retaliation for the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel on Tuesday, which was a response to multiple Israeli escalations.
When asked by a reporter if he would support Israeli strikes on Iranian oil sites, Biden said, “We’re discussing that. I think that would be a little… anyway.” The comments sent oil prices spiking.
Striking Iran’s oil facilities is supported by the ultra-hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “These oil refineries need to be hit and hit hard because that is the source of cash for the regime to perpetrate their terror,” Graham said in a statement on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Biden said he wouldn’t support Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, but the US is vowing to ensure Tehran faces “severe consequences.” Israeli officials have told Axios that they plan to hit Iran hard and believe their attack could lead to a major regional war.
Options being considered besides striking oil facilities are targeting Iran’s air defenses or carrying out a targeted assassination inside Iran. Israeli officials have said that if Iran responds to their next attack, then any option is on the table, including strikes on nuclear facilities.
Israel is coordinating its plans to attack Iran with the US because it wants the US to come to its defense in the event of another significant Iranian attack. If Israel wants to carry out a significant strike inside Iran, it may also need support from the US military.
Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the Israeli assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the Israeli killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan, an IRGC commander who was killed alongside Nasrallah.
Iran Tells US It Doesn’t Want War
But Phase of ‘Self-Restraint’ Is Over
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
(October 3, 2024) — Al Jazeera reported on Thursday that Iran has delivered a message to the US, saying it doesn’t want a regional war but warning that its “unilateral self-restraint” is over.
The message, delivered through Qatari meditators, said that “individual self-restraint” does not secure Iran’s “national security requirements.”
Iran also warned that if Israel launched an attack on Iran, it would be met with an “unconventional” response that would include the targeting of Israeli infrastructure.
The message comes as Israel is vowing to respond to the Iranian missile barrage that was launched on Tuesday, which was a response to the Israeli killings of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was killed alongside Nasrallah.
Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed back on July 31 when he was at a heavily guarded guest house in Tehran, where he was visiting for the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian said last month that Iran waited to respond to the Haniyeh killing because of US warnings that it could interrupt Gaza ceasefire talks. “They told us earlier to prevent a larger war to wait another week or so for peace to be obtained,” he said. “Clearly the politicians that lie to us these days … lie to you as well.”
Now, Iran is making it clear that it will respond right away to any Israeli attack on its oil as the US and Israel are discussing options for potential retaliation. President Biden said Thursday that the idea of hitting Iran’s nuclear sites is being discussed.
