War for Oil: Washington Stepping to Consolidate control on Global Oil

On March 7, 2026, the White House clarified that the US wanted to gain complete control of Iran’s  oil reserves and infrastructure, showing that Operation Epic Fury is another war for oil.

Lubricating Oil War With Human Emotions and Blood

Dropping Huge Bombs Without A Coherent Explanation

Trump’s purported concerns about Iranian civilians’ lives from January 2026 melted away a few weeks later as he authorized the bombing of Iran, killing hundreds of civilians, including 170 schoolgirls in the city of Minab. Other justifications, such as curtailing Iran’s nuclear program or missile capabilities, are progressively fading as figures in the US leadership admit that their goal is to gain Iran’s oil and make a ton of money. Therefore, instigators of this war have shown (yet again) that they cannot accept a world based on sovereign equality with equal countries trading freely. Instead, they impose a system that allows them to loot and plunder other countries using convenient justifications.

Another unfortunate reality that must be appreciated is that Western citizens still allow the US, Israel, and Western European countries to continue conducting lives-for-resources wars, even after similar events in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, among others. Thousands of lives of Iranians have been extinguished by US and Israeli bombs worth hundreds of millions, yet nearly a million American citizens remain homeless or unemployed. Similarly, millions of citizens from Western European backers of Israel face social challenges, including homelessness and unemployment, which could be solved comfortably using resources diverted to endless wars. However, these citizens have not demanded a change of priorities from endless wars to solving domestic needs, but support their nations, hoping that their large corporations could obtain Iran’s oil resources. Western societies are largely on board in a risky adventure following an outdated neocolonial attitude.

Hard-to-Conceal Oil Interests

An article appearing on Aljazeera on March 10, 2026, touted how Trump threatened to take control of the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that it remained open, which emphasizes how unnecessary the ongoing war is. Notably, this strategic waterway remained open to oil trade before the US and Israel started the bombing on February 28, 2026, making the thought that Trump wants to expand the conflict to achieve the prewar reality inconsistent. The most sensible step for Trump should be stopping the war, if achieving free flow of energy is his genuine goal. However, the Trump Administration understands that it is disingenuous and that the current war is being waged in the interest of deep-rooted forces in the West. It appears that Trump had to wage a war for the Strait of Hormuz to be closed and hence concoct a justification for securing the Strait and Iran’s oil infrastructure.

The idea of creating a crisis and presenting a previously prepared “solution” reflected in Trump’s behavior has been repeated in Washington’s thought. One example was the Oil Crisis of 1973, which was caused by tensions that the West propagated between the US-backed Israel on the one hand and Egypt, Syria, and others on the other. The oil reduction resulting from the embargo imposed by the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) enabled the US administration to increasingly intervene in Middle East security and later across the world. The crises presented a justification for Washington to position itself at the center of oil production and trade, including through waging decades-spanning wars, all based on different justifications.

The need to control oil trade has facilitated the conversion of the Washington establishment into an oil-grabbing and protection cartel, as the case of Venezuela and statements of Lindsey Graham show. Even as Trump tries to plunder Iranian oil, he is also seeking legal and political justification for controlling Russian oil through purporting to lift anti-Russian sanctions. At face value, this lifting of sanctions may sound like a noble move, but nothing can be celebrated yet. It could be that Trump would demand that Russia hand over control of some of its oil extraction or exporting firms through the threats of sanctions and offers of acquiring them. He may demand that oil settlement for the sale of some of Russia’s oil be concluded through the US settlement systems. In essence, Trump, in creating the war against Iran, is advancing a system that gives the US control over global oil resources and their sales while using the blood of Iranians to achieve this goal.

Greed and Delusions of Global Domination

Decades of scheming by the US, Western Europe, and Israel, driven by unfettered greed for oil control, have precipitated a reality where the West cannot retreat from its war on Iran and later Russia. Trump and his Secretary of War will continue naming contradictory and incongruous factors as having caused this war, including when it is likely to end. All of these will be done to conceal the reality that the war is caused by deep-rooted reasons, with Iran’s missile capabilities and potential nuclear concerns being only diversions. Sadly, most countries and the majority of citizens in the West have historically given the US and Western Europe a blank check to do what they can to pursue patriarchal interests. This unreasonable approval can be noted in that Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have not received any meaningful opposition in terms of protests, legal actions, or legislative initiatives for launching an indefensible war. Citizenry in the West is accustomed to benefiting from the proceeds of excesses of their governments, such as the slave trade, colonialism, plunder, and illegal wars. Therefore, the world faces a risky reality where the US, Israel, and their Western European allies joined in a war they are unlikely to turn back from against Iran.

Simon Chege Ndiritu, is a political observer and research analyst from Africa

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