Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled a direct warning from both President Donald Trump and the head of US Central Command when he ordered strikes on major oil storage facilities outside Tehran a week ago, setting off a chain reaction that has spread economic damage across the Persian Gulf.
Both Trump and Admiral Brad Cooper explicitly warned Israel against hitting the oil depots, fearing that such an attack would provoke Iranian retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure across the region, "Hvylya" reports, citing The New York Times, which spoke to multiple people briefed on the situation. Netanyahu ignored the advice. Israel hit the depots on Saturday, March 7, triggering massive fires and an immediate surge in oil prices.
Inside the White House, officials became convinced that the Israeli leader wanted dramatic scenes of Tehran covered in black smoke. The Israeli argument was that burning oil tanks would create internal chaos within the Iranian leadership. Instead, the strikes provoked exactly the retaliatory escalation the Americans had feared. Iran launched drone strikes against oil refining and storage facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. By Saturday, those attacks forced a halt in oil loading at Fujairah, one of the UAE's largest export terminals.
The oil depot episode is only one source of friction. Washington and Jerusalem have also clashed over Israel's renewed military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Trump administration views those strikes as an unnecessary escalation that diverts resources and attention from the main fight against Iran. Netanyahu sees it differently - in his assessment, Iran and Hezbollah are inseparable, and the moment to strike is when Tehran is too consumed by its own survival to support its proxy.
The Israel Defense Forces pushed back publicly on Sunday, stating that Israel and the United States maintain "close and ongoing security and strategic cooperation, based on professional dialogue and the highest level of transparency." The IDF called claims that Israel deliberately opened an additional front with Lebanon "incorrect and misleading," insisting that Hezbollah chose to join the war on Iran's behalf.
Despite the tensions, Trump and Netanyahu have spoken almost daily since the conflict began, the prime minister confirmed at a press conference last week. White House officials say Trump is also in regular contact with Arab leaders, particularly the Saudi crown prince, who according to several officials has been urging a maximalist approach against Iran.
Also read: Gulf States Face an Impossible Choice After Iran War, Ignatius Warns.