World
Biden’s dovish posture toward Iran emboldened Tehran in its attack on Israel: experts
JERUSALEM — American and Israeli experts issued scathing indictments of President Biden’s alleged timid Iran policy after Tehran launched a massive aerial warfare attack on the Jewish state over the weekend.
The Islamic Republic, for the first time, executed direct missile and drone strikes into Israeli territory. The dramatic events in the heart of the Middle East have triggered calls for the Biden administration to reverse its reportedly dovish outreach to the ayatollahs who run the theocratic state. Biden is now urging Israel to recoil from a counterstrike.
“This was a massive, unprecedented and unacceptable strategic attack on Israel,” Richard Goldberg, who was a member of former President Trump’s National Security Council, told Fox News Digital. “It would be a huge mistake to pull Israel back from a military retaliation, but it’s downright insanity to keep $10 billion accessible to Tehran in the aftermath. The president needs to lock down all the money he made available to Tehran these past months.”
BIDEN CALLING FOR G7 MEETING IN RESPONSE TO IRAN’S ‘BRAZEN’ ATTACK
Israeli defense systems intercept an Iranian missile over Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem, in the early hours of April 14, 2024. (Matanya Reichman/TPS)
Last month, Fox News Digital reported that Biden defied opponents of Iran’s regime and waived sanctions on Iran’s cash-starved economy. Biden faced criticism after releasing as much as $10 billion into the coffers of the Islamic Republic. In January, an Iranian regime-sponsored proxy terrorist attack killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan.
The Biden administration insisted that Iran’s regime can’t use the funds for its growing military offensive arsenal. Critics argue that the $10 billion is fungible money and the financial allocation allows Iran to revise its budget to expand its military apparatus.
This image shows a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on March 22, 2024.
Goldberg, who is a senior adviser for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, “If the president is looking for economic and diplomatic responses to the Iranian attack, there are three obvious ones available: lock down the $10 billion, enforce U.S. oil sanctions and snap back U.N. sanctions. If Biden avoids these steps, this isn’t escalation avoidance. It’s continued appeasement.”
HOW CAN ISRAEL RESPOND TO IRAN’S BRAZEN ATTACK?
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby rejected criticism that the administration has not been tough enough on Tehran, noting the sanctions and other measures used against Tehran: “It’s hard to take a look at what President Biden has done and say that we’ve somehow gone soft on Iran.”
This view shows the Port of Kharg Island oil terminal in Iran on March 12, 2017. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
He continued, “It was the previous administration that decided to get us out of the Iran deal. And now Iran is so much dramatically closer to potential nuclear weapon capability than they were before … Mr. Trump was elected.”
Quizzed on the financial relief given to Iran and how the regime used it, he said, “It’s not even sanctions relief but the additional funds that have been made available to Iran due to [the] sanctions relief program that the Trump administration put in place can only be used for humanitarian goods. It doesn’t go to the regime.”
An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on April 18, 2018, in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” said he believed the Biden administration’s reaction to the death of the IRGC generals in Syria following the reported Israeli attack showed how “fractured” the relationship with Israel had become, and that it had “emboldened Iran.”
Fox News Digital reported in October, shortly after Iran’s proxy, Hamas, slaughtered 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans, in southern Israel that the Biden administration and its European allies allowed U.N. sanctions to be lifted on Iran’s capability to purchase and supply missiles to enemies of the U.S. and Israel.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that “the snapback mechanism is not expiring and remains in place. We do not rely solely on UNSCR 2231 to restrict Iran’s dangerous development and proliferation of missile-related technologies and UAVs, but rather a comprehensive set of multilateral and unilateral tools.”
WORLD LEADERS COLLECTIVELY CONDEMN IRAN’S ‘RECKLESS’ ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘WE SUPPORT ISRAEL’
President Biden (Anna Moneymaker/File)
The spokesperson went on to say, “We continue to use all our tools to counter Iran’s missile and UAV development and proliferation, including sanctions, unilateral and multilateral export controls, interdiction activities, diplomatic engagement, cooperation with private industry.”
Lisa Daftari, a leading Iranian-American expert on the Islamic Republic and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital that “The Biden administration’s posture in the first hours of coming into the White House was that they were going to go soft on the regime. Their policies reflected this. Their rhetoric reflected this. They sent a clear message to the mullahs that there would be no consequences for their rogue actions. What we are seeing is a manifestation of weak policies and the ayatollah’s correct read on American foreign policy.”
Israeli Air Force planes intercepted UAVs and cruise missiles sent from Iran on Saturday. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital press query. A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week that “Iran’s political, financial and material support to terror groups, Hamas prominently among them, is well documented, and in fact trumpeted by the regime. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The regime prioritizes financing Hamas and proxy groups at the expense of its own people and stability in the region.”
Yaakov Katz, a leading Israeli expert on security and defense of the Jewish state, told Fox News Digital that “Iran has been given immunity since Oct. 7 despite the continued attacks by its proxies: Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah.”
Katz added, “What happened on Saturday night was a direct and unprecedented Iranian attack against Israel. The containment policy does not work and the world’s strategy of diplomacy and sanctions is not effective. The world needs to shift gears and change the way it has tried to confront Iran.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.
The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.
Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.
Sunday’s higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.
Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.
“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.
Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.
A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.
Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.
A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.
Trump warns Iran it ‘can’t blackmail’ US with Hormuz closure
Fox News reports on heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reaffirms strict control over the Strait of Hormuz and fires on passing ships. President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, states the US naval blockade will remain in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan provides updates on the escalating diplomatic and military standoff.
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Hundreds of commercial tankers are stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shut the critical chokepoint on April 18, halting traffic and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and “traumatic experiences” on board.
The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.
STARMER AND MACRON ACCUSED OF ‘PLAYING AT BEING RELEVANT’ WITH STRAIT OF HORMUZ PLAN
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.” (CENTCOM)
Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.
“Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!” the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.
Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.
“We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately,” said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.
“These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible.”
LISA DAFTARI: HORMUZ WHIPLASH PROVES TEHRAN CAN’T HONOR ANY DEAL IT SIGNS
“The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today,” he added. “Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.”
“Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation,” Haupt said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as “enemy” collaborators.
Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to “economic warfare,” framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.
“Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
TRUMP ORDERS A BLOCKADE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN SOAR
Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)
The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced “impartially against all vessels.”
Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.
“For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon,” Haupt said.
“We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration.”
“One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels,” he added.
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“They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful.”
President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation “blackmail” and said the U.S. would not back down.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
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