Ali Larijani said Washington is in control of oil resources in countries such as Saudi Arabia, and now wants to take possession of petroleum in other countries like Venezuela by triggering chaos there.
“The war they launched in Libya is aimed at [seizing] land and oil. That is why they triggered chaos in Libya’s political landscape. The same goes for Venezuela. Saudi Arabia’s oil is in the United States’ hands, but a few oil-rich regions, including Venezuela, are not under the United States’ control, that is why the US has created problems for them and has created unrest in that country,” said he top parliamentarian in a Saturday ceremony in Tehran.
“Many of the British American conflicts with Iran were over oil,” he said.
Larijani’s remarks come as Iran has condemned the recent attempts by the United States to stage a coup against the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro, who has been under pressure from US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido to step down.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Larijani touched upon Washington’s sanctions on Iran.
“By imposing sanctions, the US puts pressure on Iran and puts forward issues such as human rights as well as missile and atomic issues, but the main reason [behind the sanctions] is something else,” he said.
Larinani said the US also had made plans to seize Iraqi oil, but failed to because of Iraqi people, and Washington “managed to get just a little of that.”
“At the moment, they have waged psychological warfare because they know when Iran’s oil is not sold, the country will face some problems, and that is why they have launched a war of nerves,” the speaker said.
“Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates do not have the potential to increase their oil sales. If they had, they would,” he said.
The top parliamentarian said US President Donald Trump might be able to give Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman assurances through psychological tactics temporarily.
“This psychological operation works for a few days, but later, oil shortage will begin, and they will face problems in the coming days and weeks,” he said.
