(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to limit his country’s retaliation against Iran over the missile attack on Oct. 1 to military targets, according to a report in the Washington Post.

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Netanyahu has told the Biden administration that he would strike those types of targets rather than Iran’s oil infrastructure or nuclear installations, the Post reported, citing two officials familiar with the matter whom it didn’t identify.

The newspaper cited one of the officials as saying the retaliation for the Iranian missile barrage on Israel would be calibrated to avoid the perception that Israel was interfering in next month’s US election.

“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests,” Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement when asked about the report.

Such a decision would be a relief for President Joe Biden, whose administration has urged Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear or energy sites for fear of escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

Oil dropped at the start of trading after the report was published. The White House on Monday evening referred questions on Netanyahu’s intentions to Israeli officials.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell 2.8% to $71.78 a barrel, after losing 2.3% on Monday.

In a move that may have been aimed at persuading Israel not to strike at Iran’s oil sector, the US Treasury Department last week sanctioned 17 ships and 10 entities that it said were tied to the “ghost fleet” of tankers maintaining the shipment of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, including to refineries in China.

--With assistance from Dan Williams.

(Adds statement from prime minister’s office in fourth paragraph.)

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