President Donald Trump likened the scenario to the deal the U.S. struck with Venezuela earlier this year, saying the U.S. could continue its campaign against Iran and seize control of Iranian oil.
Speaking at the Irish Open golf championship in Ireland on Sunday, President Trump said of the conflict with Iran: “Unless we decide to continue to have oil, like Venezuela, we will eventually get out of[the war].” He added that U.S. revenues from the Venezuela deal, which gave the U.S. access to roughly a fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves, “paid the price for war time and time again.”
Under the agreement reached in August, Venezuela ceded most of its control over more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, more than twice the United States’ own reserves, in exchange for $209 billion in the Venezuelan national treasury. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the deal would also bring in nearly $100 billion in private investment to revitalize the economy.
President Trump said Sunday that he expects the seven-month war with Iran to end this year, possibly after the midterm elections in November, claiming that once it ends, gas prices will “drop like a rock.”
The president said he would only make “the right deal,” adding that Iran “continues to call” for peace talks, although Iran has previously dismissed this claim.
President Trump’s remarks came amid an impasse in diplomacy over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said on Sunday
Iranian and Gulf officials were scheduled to meet on Monday to sign an agreement to establish an Iran-Oman shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, but direct talks between the United States and Iran were not progressing.
The Strait of Hormuz has been under naval blockade by Iran and then the United States since war broke out in February, and global energy prices have remained high.
A June deal between the United States and Iran has been stalled over disagreements over the highway, and heavy offensives by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in recent days have strengthened the influence of Tehran and its allies over the Bab el-Mandeb River, a second key waterway.
Vessels deemed noncompliant are regularly targeted by Iranian attacks, and the United States regularly bombs Iran’s coastline to challenge the Islamic Republic’s control of the Straits.
Oil prices soared again, above $100 a barrel for the first time since May, and rose further on Monday after Saudi Arabia shut down a major East-West energy pipeline after being hit by an Iraqi drone.
US West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.3% to $102.39 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude oil rose 2.4% to trade at $107.11 per barrel.
