Middle East intrudes in US election campaign

The escalating confrontation in the Middle East as Israel exchanges blows with Iran and Iran-backed militias provides a rare foreign policy interlude in the US presidential campaign that remains too close to call.

"The US is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel," President Joe Biden told reporters today after US and Israeli military forces appeared to have successfully averted serious damage from a direct Iranian missile attack on Israel.

"The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is testament to Israeli military capability and also a testament to intensive planning [between] the US and Israel to anticipate and defend against a brazen attack," Biden said.

The Democratic candidate for president, vice president Kamala Harris, joined Biden at the White House situation room to monitor the Iranian missile attack and the US response to it, the White House said.

The Republican candidate, former president Donald Trump, ahead of the expected attack accused Biden and Harris of acting insufficiently tough against Iran.

"The World is on fire and spiraling out of control," Trump said via social media before it became apparent that the Iranian missile attack failed. "We have no leadership, no one running the Country. We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden, and a completely absent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is too busy fundraising in San Francisco."

Harris has been in Washington since Monday, in part to attend briefings by federal officials about the ongoing response to the damage caused in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

Trump in campaign appearances over the weekend accused Biden and Harris of inaction during Hurricane Helene and said he would personally lead relief efforts in Georgia even though federal emergency officials have been providing support to the victims of flooding and heavy rains that have caused significant damage. Biden and Harris plan to separately visit the affected areas later this week.

The Middle East region has been braced for Iran to attack Israel since the leader of Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in July. Tensions have grown in recent weeks after Israel stepped up attacks against Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, culminating in the killing of the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on 27 September.

The previous Iranian missile attack on Israel, in April, led to a restrained Israeli retaliation on targets inside Iran, with the US, China and other regional powers intervening to prevent a further escalation.

WTI crude futures closed today's session up by more than 2pc on news of the Iranian attack and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Futures retraced some of the gains made earlier in the trading session after it became apparent that the Iranian attack failed to cause significant damage.

Biden told reporters today that he has yet to recommend a specific course of action for Israel following today's Iranian missile attack.

"We are having that discussion right now" with the Israeli government, Biden said, adding that it "remains to be seen" how Israel would respond.

The Iran-Israel confrontation is likely to feature at a televised debate later tonight between Trump's vice-presidential nominee, senator JD Vance, and Harris' running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz.

The Vance-Walz encounter is the last scheduled debate of the election season. Harris suggested another televised debate with Trump after holding one in September, but Trump has declined the offer.

Polls indicate that the presidential race is too close to accurately forecast. Harris has held a steady, small lead in nationwide polling since becoming the Democratic nominee in July but the outcome of the election will be determined in the Electoral College, with seven states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — likely to determine the overall result.

By Haik Gugarats