 Biden will not touch Iranian oil after strike on Israel, the US considers China's request. Iran's unprecedented strike on Israel is unlikely to prompt sharp sanctions on Iranian oil exports from the Biden administration due to concerns about rising oil prices and discontent. Among its largest buyer, China, Reuters said, citing analysts. Shortly after Tehran launched an attack on Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, House Republican leaders accused President Joe Biden of weakness and said they would consider a series of bills this week to tighten sanctions on Iran. Appearing on Fox News, House Republican whip Steve Scalise said the Biden administration had made it easier for Iran to sell its oil, which it uses for military purposes. According to Reuters, political pressure to punish Iran poses a difficult challenge for the US presidential administration. How to deter similar attacks in the future without escalating regional tensions, raising oil prices or confronting China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil? According to former CIA official Scott Modell, even if Congress passes bills against Iran, it is difficult to imagine the Biden administration moving forward with new sanctions, for example, to try to reduce or limit Iranian oil exports in any meaningful way. It is obvious that in the current geopolitical conditions and against the background of internal problems in the United States, the White House does not want to seriously expose itself to satisfy the whims of Tel Aviv. According to ABC News, the US will not help Israel retaliate by launching offensive military operations in the wake of Iran's missile and drone attack. Biden administration officials have privately warned Israel has promised a response following the massive Iranian attack on the country. According to a US official cited by ABC, this message was also delivered directly to Israel's top brass in a private phone call on Sunday between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant. Zelensky irritated by US Vice President Kamala Harris' request not to hit Russian oil refineries. US Vice President Kamala Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Munich Security Conference in February and urged him to refrain from striking Russian oil refineries. The Washington Post reported this, citing sources. The sources said that Harris' request irritated Zelensky and his aides. The sources noted that the Ukrainian president brushed off these recommendations because he was not sure that they reflected the consensus position of the Joe Biden administration. The newspaper adds that in the following weeks, Washington confirmed this warning in numerous conversations with the Ukrainian side. In particular, these statements were made by senior representatives of the Pentagon and US intelligence as well as by Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor who visited Kiev in March. However, since then, Ukraine has struck a number of Russian facilities, including an attack on the 2nd of April on Taneco, Russia's third-largest oil refinery located in Tatar Stan. US officials say that supporting global energy markets to reduce inflation is a priority for the Biden administration ahead of the presidential election. However, they said it is also important for maintaining European support for Ukraine's war efforts. An increase in energy prices risks dampening European support for Ukraine aid. The US official said the US also doubts the military benefits of these Ukrainian attacks. In particular, the US military believes that the strikes do little to reduce Russia's combat capability and have led to a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine's power grid, which is much more damaging to Ukraine than the strikes on the refineries were to Russia. The newspaper notes that the US position on strikes on Russian refineries has angered Ukraine, which considers such actions to be justified given Russia's continuous attacks on Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian officials believe that these attacks are necessary to raise the price of Russian aggression and to emphasize that Russian society will not be safe until the war unleashed by Russia ends. Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently criticized the Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries questioning their impact on the war. Meanwhile, Europe believes that Ukraine has the right to strike Russian refineries.