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Scoop: U.S. asks Israel to halt strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure

Barak Ravid

Fire and smoke in Tehran — Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7. Photo: Sasan / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration asked Israel on Monday not to carry out further strikes on energy facilities in Iran, particularly oil infrastructure, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: The U.S. request marks the first time the Trump administration has reined in Israel since the two countries launched their joint operation against Iran ten days ago.

The Israeli strikes blanketed Tehran — a city of 10 million — in toxic black smoke and acid rain, raising urgent health warnings for ordinary Iranians.

Driving the news: The U.S. messages were conveyed at a senior political level and to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, an Israeli official said.

A second Israeli official said "the U.S. asked that we notify them in advance of any future strikes on oil facilities in Iran."

The Trump administration cited three reasons for its request, according to a source with knowledge of the matter:

Such strikes harm the Iranian public, a large portion of which opposes the regime.
Trump aims to cooperate with Iran's oil sector after the war — similar to the approach he has taken with Venezuela.
The strikes could trigger massive Iranian retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure across Gulf states.

Between the lines: Iran attacked Gulf energy facilities with drones earlier in the war, but did not cause significant or irreversible damage.

The U.S. concern is that a new round of strikes on Iranian oil could change that calculus — and send prices even higher.
A source familiar with the details said Trump views strikes on Iran's energy and oil facilities as a "doomsday option" — something to be held in reserve only if Iran deliberately attacks Gulf oil facilities first.

What they're saying: Trump telegraphed that posture publicly, warning Monday that Iran will be hit "20 times harder" if it harms global oil supplies.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. will "take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again."
The source claimed Trump was hinting at potential attacks on Iranian oil facilities.

The intrigue: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the Republican Party's most vocal supporters of the war, also criticized the Israeli strikes on the fuel depots.

"Please be cautious about what targets you select. Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor," Graham wrote on X.
On Tuesday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth distanced the administration from the Israeli fuel depot strikes, telling reporters the U.S. had not attacked targets of that kind.

The White House, the Israeli embassy in Washington and the IDF declined to comment.