Trump may now target another nation after Venezuela that produces three times more oil

After removing Venezuela's president from office, the United States is considering whether to strike one of the top oil-producing nations in the world. Iran, which is currently in internal turmoil, has been threatened by President Donald Trump multiple times over the past few weeks for its treatment of protestors. Although Trump dialled back the rhetoric of military strikes on Wednesday, the threat is still looming, CNN reported. While the country's oil reserves are estimated to be less than Venezuela's, its refineries produce and export significantly more oil than the Latin American nation.

The Iranian government is reportedly at its weakest point in years, as protests against the regime have erupted on the streets across the nation. The government has launched a deadly crackdown on protestors, which, according to Trump, crossed a red line. The U.S. president previously signalled that his administration was monitoring the situation, while weighing in on an attack. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, without describing what kind of help he was willing to offer. Later, within 24 hours, he seemingly calmed down as he told reporters in Washington, D.C., that his administration had been assured there would be no more killing and the protestors would not be executed. 

However, the president added that the U.S. was monitoring the situation, signalling that the threat of an attack is not completely off the table. A strike on Iran looks imminent, given the history and similarities between the OPEC nation and Venezuela. Iran has the third-largest proven oil reserves on Earth, and according to OPEC, it accounts for roughly for 4% of global crude production, despite sanctions. Like Venezuela, Iran sells the majority, about 97% of its oil, to China, through shadow fleets, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Despite being behind the Latin American nations in terms of oil reserves, Iran is a top oil producer with 3 to 4 million barrels per day, which is significantly higher. Another similarity is that Iran also nationalized its energy infrastructure after expropriating foreign oil companies’ assets in the past decades. It is significantly larger than Venezuela in the oil market. "Developments for Iran matter much more for oil markets in the near term, because of the risk of oil supply disruption," Luisa Palacios, a former Citgo chairwoman and current managing director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told Al Jazeera. 

Thus, striking Iran could look strategically plausible for the U.S., which has butted heads with Tehran in the past over the country's nuclear policy. In June last year, the U.S. conducted heavy bombings as a "Diplomatic resolution" to Iran developing nuclear weapons. US B-2 Spirit bombers dropped fourteen bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which was located underground inside a mountain near Qom, along with facilities in Natanz and Isfahan, the publication reported. Thus, if tensions escalate further regarding the current situation, U.S. military action in Tehran is likely.

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