Trump Eyes Iran Oil Like Venezuela as Hormuz Talks Stall — SkimNews
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- Trump said at the Irish Open in Ireland that the U.S. could 'stay and keep the oil like Venezuela' in the Iran conflict, citing the August deal under which Venezuela ceded majority U.S. control of 65+ billion barrels of reserves in exchange for $209 billion to its treasury, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio adding roughly $100 billion in expected private investment.
- Trump said he expects the Iran war to end this year, possibly after the November midterm elections, and that gasoline prices would 'drop like a rock' once it does; he also claimed Tehran has been 'calling constantly' for peace talks, a claim Iran has previously dismissed.
- Oman postponed a planned Monday meeting between Gulf states and Iran to sign an Iran-Oman shipping route agreement through the Strait of Hormuz, with Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi citing the need for 'consensus'; no direct U.S.-Iran talks were ongoing.
- The Strait of Hormuz has been under Iranian and later U.S. naval blockade since the war began in February, with non-compliant ships regularly struck by Iran and the U.S. periodically bombing the Iranian coastline; a June U.S.-Iran accord on the waterway had already collapsed.
- Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched a blistering offensive in recent days, gaining leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb waterway — a second critical chokepoint that compounds the Hormuz pressure on global shipping.
- Oil prices jumped past $100 a barrel for the first time since May, with WTI up 2.3% to $102.39 and Brent up 2.4% to $107.11, after Saudi Arabia shut a key East-West pipeline due to damage from Iraqi drones.
Why it matters: The stalled Oman-mediated deal leaves the Strait of Hormuz under military blockade with no diplomatic off-ramp, pushing Brent crude above $107 a barrel. Trump's Venezuela template — majority U.S. control of oil reserves in exchange for payments to the host government — signals a concrete endgame scenario for the Iran war that markets had not priced in.
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