Donald Trump has claimed it was “too soon” to talk about seizing Iran’s oil, but he would not rule it out.
The president gave an interview to NBC News by phone as the U.S. and Israel continue to strike Iran in an escalating conflict that has now been underway for more than a week.
Trump told the network on Monday he did not want to discuss whether he would like the U.S. to seize Iran’s oil, but he said, “Certainly people have talked about it.”
The price of oil skyrocketed to more than $100 a barrel on Monday as the war with Iran brought shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz to a standstill.
Some Gulf countries have begun cutting oil production as they run out of storage, amid disruptions that persist despite Trump’s urging for tankers to “show some guts” and keep shipments moving.
The president weighing in on taking Iran’s oil comes after the U.S. seized oil tankers and secured millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela as the president ramped up pressure on the country and carried out a military operation to capture former President Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Trump brought up Venezuela in his discussion of oil with NBC News.
“You look at Venezuela,” Trump said. “People have thought about it, but it’s too soon to talk about that.”
Such a move could raise tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of the president’s planned visit to the country at the end of the month.
Iran is the ninth-largest oil-producing country in the world, and China is the top consumer of Iranian oil, taking in about 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports. It was also a top consumer of Venezuelan oil.
But the war with Iran has proven to be a completely different operation from the mission to take out Maduro on January 3 and the installation of his former deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, as leader of Venezuela.
The strikes on Iran and retaliation have threatened to destabilize the entire region as the death toll climbs.
On Monday, Iran named Majtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as its new supreme leader. The 56-year-old cleric has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is believed to hold even harder-line views than his father.
Trump complained in his interview with NBC about Iran naming the younger Khamenei as its new leader.
“I think they made a big mistake,” Trump said. “I don’t know if it’s going to last. I think they made a mistake.”
