The United States expanded sanctions against Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors on Friday in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, the administration of President Joe Biden said.

The U.S. move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran's economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs, Reuters reported.

"The new designations today also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world," Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement. "These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners."

Israel is vowing to respond to Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.

The U.S. Treasury can now "impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy," it said in a statement.

Biden has said Israel should seek alternatives to attacking Iran's oil fields. Gulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking oil sites because they are concerned their own facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates, three Gulf sources told Reuters.

The Treasury Department also said it was designating 16 entities and identifying 17 vessels as blocked property, citing their involvement in shipments of petroleum and petrochemical products in support of the National Iranian Oil Company.

Concurrently, the State Department took steps to disrupt the money flow into Iran's weapons programs and support for "terrorist proxies and partners."

It imposed sanctions on six entities involved in Tehran's petroleum trade and identified six ships as blocked property.

Iran's oil exports have risen under Biden's tenure as Iran succeeds in evading sanctions and as China has become Iran's major oil buyer.

The Eurasia Group risk consultancy said on Friday the U.S. could cut Iran's oil exports through tighter enforcement of previously imposed sanctions, for instance through satellite imaging for stricter monitoring of tankers that have turned off transponders.

The U.S. could also pressure countries to support enforcement efforts such as Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, it said. But that approach "would require strong diplomatic pressure on two partners, Malaysia and UAE, which are both reluctant to support efforts favoring Israel," it said. Tougher enforcement of sanctions would likely require targeting Chinese firms shipping Iranian crude, it said, as China buys nearly 90% of Iran's crude-oil exports.

At least 20 miners were killed and seven injured in an attack by armed men on a small private coal mine in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Friday, police said.

“A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons,” said Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, located east of the city of Quetta. They fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well, he added, Reuters reported.

“We have received 20 bodies and six injured so far at the district hospital,” said Johar Khan Shadizai, a doctor in Duki.

Tehran has told Gulf Arab states it would be "unacceptable" if they allowed use of their airspace or military bases against Iran and warned that any such move would draw a response, a senior Iranian official said.

The official also said any action by Gulf states to balance oil markets should Iranian energy facilities be hit by Israel was not part of the discussions so far, Reuters reported.

The comments come amid growing concern over possible Israeli retaliation for last week's Iranian missile attack, as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visits Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states including Qatar for talks on Wednesday.

They followed discussions between Iran and Gulf Arab capitals last week on the sidelines of an Asia conference in Qatar, when Gulf states sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in any conflict between Tehran and Israel.

"Iran made it clear that any action by a Persian Gulf country against Tehran, whether through the use of airspace or military bases, will be regarded by Tehran as an action taken by the entire group, and Tehran will respond accordingly," the senior Iranian official told Reuters.

"The message emphasised the need for regional unity against Israel and the importance of securing stability," he said.

"It also made clear that any assistance to Israel, such as allowing the use of a regional country’s airspace for actions against Iran, is unacceptable."

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to hold a telephone call on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will include discussion of any plans to strike Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter, read the report.

Washington hopes to weigh in on whether the response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions said. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Biden said last Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes. Last week he also said he would not support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites.

The Iranian official said Tehran did not discuss the issue of Gulf Arab oil producers raising output if Iranian production were disrupted during any escalation.

U.S. news website Axios, citing Israeli officials, reported last week that Israel could target oil production facilities within Iran as retaliation.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, which is de-facto led by Saudi Arabia, has enough spare oil capacity to make up any loss of Iranian supply if an Israeli retaliation knocks out some of the country's facilities, Reuters reported.

Much of OPEC's spare capacity is in the Middle East Gulf region. Iran has not threatened to attack Gulf oil facilities but has previously warned that if "Israel supporters" intervene directly their interests in the region would be targeted.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has had a political rapprochement with Tehran in recent years, which has helped ease regional tensions, but relations remain difficult.

Saudi Arabia has been wary of an Iranian strike on its oil facilities since a 2019 attack on its key refinery at Abqaiq briefly shut down more than 5% of global oil supply. Iran denied involvement.

A Western diplomat in the Gulf said that during Thursday's Gulf-Iran meeting in Doha, Iran made clear that Tehran had called for regional unity in the face of an Israeli attack and that it considered neutrality of Gulf states a bare minimum.

The diplomat said Iran had made clear that Tehran would keep a close eye on how each Gulf country responded in the case of an Israeli attack, and also how U.S. bases housed in their countries were used.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all host U.S. military facilities or troops.