Iranian state media and IRGC-affiliated channels are amplifying remarks by US Senator Lindsey Graham about Venezuelan and Iranian energy reserves to accuse the US of imperialism.
Iranian state media and military-aligned channels are heavily amplifying a recent quote from a US Senator to frame American foreign policy as purely resource-driven imperialism.
According to the official state news agency خبرگزاری ایرنا, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei shared a video clip of US Senator Lindsey Graham on the social media platform X. In the shared footage, Graham reportedly states that "Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world's oil reserves; and we will have a share in them".
Baghaei seized on the clip to mock US geopolitical intentions, writing, "A rare moment of truthfulness: the issue is only oil."
This narrative is being distributed across multiple state organs to underscore the view that American hostility toward Tehran is motivated by a desire to seize sovereign energy assets. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated کانال اخبار سپاه پاسداران 🏴 reiterated the exact same quote and commentary, alongside similar coverage from Khorasan Online, signaling a coordinated messaging effort by Iranian state media to discredit US policy.
The coverage relies entirely on a single clip of Lindsey Graham, utilizing identical copy across the official state news agency (IRNA) and the IRGC-affiliated channel. This reflects a unified, top-down state messaging strategy designed to portray US actions as resource theft.