Axios says Netanyahu is pressing Trump to resume strikes on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing US President Donald Trump to resume military strikes on Iran, Axios reported on November 13. The pressure keeps the threat of renewed disruption hanging over oil supplies from the Gulf.

Trump has so far resisted a return to broad bombardment. On November 9, he said the war was militarily effectively over and further action did not appear necessary, while retaining the option to act if circumstances changed, the Associated Press reported. His restraint therefore falls short of a permanent commitment against new strikes.

Why it matters for oil

The supply recovery remains vulnerable. The US Energy Information Administration’s November report estimates that conflict-related production shut-ins in the Middle East averaged 2.5 million barrels a day in October, down from 10.9 million at the May peak. Renewed escalation could interrupt that recovery.

The same report attributes October’s supply tightness to falling inventories, tanker attacks, constrained shipping capacity and higher transport costs. Brent’s spot price averaged $124 a barrel that month. The exposure extends beyond Iranian output to the routes and ships carrying other Gulf producers’ oil.

For the market, the critical question is whether political pressure becomes military action that affects actual oil flows. Further tanker disruption could reduce available cargoes and lift freight costs; continued restraint and reliable shipments could ease the premium buyers pay for supply risk. Neither path is settled by a report of pressure alone.

Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that oil was heading for a second weekly decline as a continued US blockade reduced fears of renewed large-scale fighting, although shipping attacks remained a risk. That trading preceded the Axios report and does not establish the market’s response to it.