U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the United States could keep troops in Iran and secure local crude there. It means the United States could apply to Iran the approach of controlling part of Venezuela's oil reserves.
On the 13th, local time, Reuters reported that Trump told reporters in Ireland, "We will eventually get out (of Iran), unless we decide to stay to secure the oil, like in Venezuela."
He also claimed the revenue the United States gained from Venezuelan oil was "enough to pay for the war expense several times over." Reuters assessed Trump's remarks as "a vision similar to a move to seize one-fifth of Venezuela's massive oil reserves."
This is not the first time Trump has said he would take Iran's oil. In a March interview with the Financial Times (FT), he said, "Frankly, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran."
Afterward, Trump continued to show his ambitions for Iranian crude, saying in April that the United States could "open the Strait of Hormuz and take the oil to make big money."
In Venezuela, which Trump compared with Iran, moves by the United States to seize oil have already taken shape. In January, the Trump administration arrested then-President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and extradited him to the United States, and, with the cooperation of Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who is friendly to the United States, pushed ahead with developing Venezuela's oil, which holds the world's largest reserves.
In August, the United States signed an agreement to buy 20% of Venezuelan crude at production cost from North American Blue Energy Partners, the country's second-largest private oil producer. The United States will also secure a 35% non-operating equity in the company.
At the time, Trump declared he would use the oil secured in Venezuela to "refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was effectively depleted because of 'Sleepy Joe Biden.'"
From the outset of the Iran war, Trump was seen as modeling his Iran policy on the Venezuela case of ousting a U.S.-hostile leader and joining hands with a cooperative one. In fact, right after the war broke out, when Mojtaba Khamenei (57), the second son of Ali Khamenei and seen as a hard-liner against the United States, emerged as a leading successor, Trump said it was "unacceptable," adding, "We want someone who will bring harmony and peace to Iran."
Now Trump is seen as trying to apply the "Venezuela model" to Iran not only politically but also economically. Earlier, according to The Hill, Victoria Coates, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for National Defense and Foreign Policy, said that while the United States does not need Iranian crude, securing Iran's oil would open the way for corporations to enter the country and "rebuild the industry," comparing it with the Venezuela case.
Meanwhile, Trump stressed that even if he negotiates with Iran, he will accept only the "right deal" favorable to the United States, saying, "We will not make a bad deal." He also repeated the claim that Iran is "keeping in touch" with the United States for peace talks.