As the US-Israel war on Iran began, the Trump administration outlined multiple objectives, including regime change and dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, without explicitly mentioning oil, writes M. Al-Badawi. [GETTY]
The narrative of seizing Iranian oil has intensified amongst officials in the Trump administration, Congress, and pro-war media commentators. The discourse seeks to revive a colonial logic of taking a country’s resources while attacking it and disregarding international law.
The relative success of the Venezuelan oil seizure, following the compliance of new President Delcy Rodríguez with Trump’s demands, appears to have encouraged a similar narrative targeting Iranian oil in recent weeks. In January 2025, just hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was reportedly abducted from his palace, Trump stated: “The difference this time from the Iraq war is that we will keep the oil.”
Republicans in both chambers of Congress welcomed the colonial idea and blocked several Democratic attempts to pass measures preventing Trump from launching further attacks on Venezuela without congressional approval.
The Venezuelan model
Trump promised Americans wealth from Venezuelan oil. At the outset of the seizure, approximately $200 million of oil sales out of $500 million were secured, and one survey showed a quarter of Americans supported the direct seizure of Venezuelan oil.
Another poll found 62% of Republicans supported controlling and investing in Venezuelan oil fields, compared with 16% of Democrats. To date, the funds have not entered the United States due to legal considerations and remain in an overseas account. The Trump administration has not clarified how it will reconcile the acquisition of the funds with laws prohibiting such action, or for that matter, how the funds would be spent.
The move also failed to trigger significant international condemnation or rejection.
As the US-Israel war on Iran began, the Trump administration outlined multiple objectives, including regime change and dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, without explicitly mentioning oil. The topic surfaced cautiously among some analysts on right-wing networks such as Fox News and on social media platforms.
The first official suggestion from the Trump administration to seize Iranian oil came on March 7, when White House Energy Dominance Council CEO Jarrod Agen told Fox News that attacks on Iran had limited impact on oil prices. Agen stated that “President Trump’s policy of increasing drilling and focusing on oil in the Western Hemisphere, including Venezuela, makes reliance on Middle Eastern oil less necessary.”
He clearly said the administration aims to end the Iranian government’s control over oil reserves, “taking all oil from the hands of terrorists”. Commenting on price spikes he added: “I say this is a long-term gain because what we want is for these vast oil reserves in Iran not to be in the hands of terrorists.”
He repeated, “What we face here (price increases) in the short term far outweighs the long-term benefit, because ultimately we will not have to worry about these problems in the Strait of Hormuz since we will take all the oil from the hands of terrorists. If you look at what happened in Venezuela, the measures the president took last January 2026 unlocked Venezuela’s potential,” referring to coercing Venezuela to surrender its oil.
On 8 March, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, told Fox News the Venezuelan model should be applied to Iran. He said that “Venezuela and Iran together hold 31% of the world’s oil reserves. We will establish a partnership controlling 31% of known reserves. This is China’s nightmare. This is a good investment.”
Graham added that, “[w]hen the regime falls, we will have a new Middle East and reap massive amounts of money.” He also claimed that he went to Israel to “show Netanyahu ways to persuade Trump to go to war on Iran.”
The following day, Trump did not rule out seizing Iranian oil during an NBC interview but said the idea was “premature”, praising the Venezuelan oil seizure.
Asked about obtaining Iranian oil, he replied: “I don’t want to discuss it now… Certainly, people have discussed it [his team at the White House],” adding, “Look at Venezuela… think about it, but it is too early to talk about it.”
Leaks over the past few days suggested the possible deployment of ground forces to seize Iranian oil when conditions allow.
In response to Trump’s statements, Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade noted that he had first mentioned the idea of seizing Iranian oil in 1988 by taking Kharg Island, while promoting his book The Art of the Deal. Kilmeade said, “I would love to see them get Kharg Island. Just like Venezuela. This oil island produces 90% of Iran’s oil. The president talked about taking this island in 1988… I think he should get it.”
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.
Mohammed Al-Badawi is the Washington-based correspondent for The New Arab’s Arabic language edition, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com
Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.
