US war on Iran isn't just about Israel; it's mainly about oil and dollar dominance episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 13, 2026 · 52 MIN

US war on Iran isn't just about Israel; it's mainly about oil and dollar dominance

from Geopolitical Economy Report · host Ben Norton

Why is the USA waging war on Iran? It's not just because of Israel. Washington wants to control the oil of the Middle East (West Asia) to maintain the petrodollar system. The Trump admin fears the dedollarization movement's challenge to the global reserve currency, which is the US empire's most powerful tool. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcXrvKVsPV8 Topics 0:00 Iran war, US & Israel 0:32 World War I analogy 1:47 Middle East wars 2:56 Oil reserves 3:51 (CLIP) Trump wants Venezuela's oil 4:14 Oil blockade of Cuba 4:59 Strait of Hormuz 5:40 Trump admin targets Iran's oil 6:06 (CLIP) US wants "to get all of the oil" 6:30 USA is top oil producer 7:11 Dollar as global reserve currency 7:55 Sanctions and financial system 9:00 Dedollarization 9:50 (CLIP) Trump fears dedollarization 10:07 Iran joins BRICS 10:22 Iran promotes dedollarization 11:08 Resistance groups 11:38 Petrodollar system 13:14 US oil deal with Saudi Arabia 15:06 Oil is (mostly) sold in US dollars 16:38 China buys Iranian oil with yuan 17:05 Venezuela sold oil in renminbi 17:26 Petrodollar and Venezuela 18:19 Trump official: Iran war for oil 19:44 USA targets China 20:44 Exorbitant privilege of US dollar 22:26 Commodities priced in USD 23:19 Financial elites benefit 24:17 US stock market: 60% of world 24:54 Global elites hold US assets 26:57 Gold standard to oil standard 28:11 Richest 10% hold 90% of stocks 28:43 Dedollarization grows 29:21 Rise of China (and India) 30:01 China buys oil with yuan 31:20 Iraq sold oil for euro, not USD 32:19 USA controls Iraq's oil revenues 33:30 Venezuela's oil revenues 34:19 Trump fears de-dollarization 35:00 UAE sells China LNG in RMB 36:01 Saudi Arabia considers yuan 36:51 Saudi BRICS invitation 37:15 UAE joined BRICS 37:44 War among BRICS members 38:29 US provokes Saudi-Iran conflict 39:10 China brokers Saudi-Iran deal 39:39 Petrodollar war 40:52 Israel and lobbying 43:34 Israel: US aircraft carrier 44:20 (CLIP) Biden: Israel "investment" 44:36 Israel and petrodollar 45:11 The tail does not wag the dog 46:05 Suez crisis of 1956 47:28 Origins of US-Saudi alliance 48:30 US-Israel alliance is recent 49:58 Bigger picture of US imperialism 51:55 Outro

Why is the USA waging war on Iran? It's not just because of Israel. Washington wants to control the oil of the Middle East (West Asia) to maintain the petrodollar system. The Trump admin fears the dedollarization movement's challenge to the global reserve currency, which is the US empire's most powerful tool. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcXrvKVsPV8 Topics 0:00 Iran war, US & Israel 0:32 World War I analogy 1:47 Middle East wars 2:56 Oil reserves 3:51 (CLIP) Trump wants Venezuela's oil 4:14 Oil blockade of Cuba 4:59 Strait of Hormuz 5:40 Trump admin targets Iran's oil 6:06 (CLIP) US wants "to get all of the oil" 6:30 USA is top oil producer 7:11 Dollar as global reserve currency 7:55 Sanctions and financial system 9:00 Dedollarization 9:50 (CLIP) Trump fears dedollarization 10:07 Iran joins BRICS 10:22 Iran promotes dedollarization 11:08 Resistance groups 11:38 Petrodollar system 13:14 US oil deal with Saudi Arabia 15:06 Oil is (mostly) sold in US dollars 16:38 China buys Iranian oil with yuan 17:05 Venezuela sold oil in renminbi 17:26 Petrodollar and Venezuela 18:19 Trump official: Iran war for oil 19:44 USA targets China 20:44 Exorbitant privilege of US dollar 22:26 Commodities priced in USD 23:19 Financial elites benefit 24:17 US stock market: 60% of world 24:54 Global elites hold US assets 26:57 Gold standard to oil standard 28:11 Richest 10% hold 90% of stocks 28:43 Dedollarization grows 29:21 Rise of China (and India) 30:01 China buys oil with yuan 31:20 Iraq sold oil for euro, not USD 32:19 USA controls Iraq's oil revenues 33:30 Venezuela's oil revenues 34:19 Trump fears de-dollarization 35:00 UAE sells China LNG in RMB 36:01 Saudi Arabia considers yuan 36:51 Saudi BRICS invitation 37:15 UAE joined BRICS 37:44 War among BRICS members 38:29 US provokes Saudi-Iran conflict 39:10 China brokers Saudi-Iran deal 39:39 Petrodollar war 40:52 Israel and lobbying 43:34 Israel: US aircraft carrier 44:20 (CLIP) Biden: Israel "investment" 44:36 Israel and petrodollar 45:11 The tail does not wag the dog 46:05 Suez crisis of 1956 47:28 Origins of US-Saudi alliance 48:30 US-Israel alliance is recent 49:58 Bigger picture of US imperialism 51:55 Outro

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US war on Iran isn't just about Israel; it's mainly about oil and dollar dominance

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Why is the USA waging war on Iran? It's not just because of Israel. Washington wants to control the oil of the Middle East (West Asia) to maintain the petrodollar system. The Trump admin fears the dedollarization movement's challenge to the global...

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