US military seizes another fugitive oil tanker linked to Venezuela

The U.S. military has seized another fugitive oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command announced Thursday.

The U.S. has now seized six oil tankers since ramping up a campaign against illicit oil trade by Venezuela.

“In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident. The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.

“These operations are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale. The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully. The Department of War, in coordination with interagency partners, will defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere,” the statement continued.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO PROTECT VENEZUELA OIL REVENUE HELD IN US ACCOUNTS

The operation comes as President Donald Trump is set to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado at the White House on Thursday.

The vessels intercepted so far have been either under U.S. sanctions or part of a “shadow fleet” of unregulated ships that disguise their origins to move oil from major sanctioned producers such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

Trump has said the U.S. will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.

TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK

Trump told The New York Times in an interview that was published Wednesday that “only time will tell” how long the U.S. will be running the country, but said it would be “much longer” than a year. 

Additionally, Trump announced recently that Venezuela would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. and that the oil would be sold “immediately.”

“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told the Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Likewise, Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as “Acting President of Venezuela” since January 2026.

Trump to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader after praising ‘terrific’ Maduro loyalist

President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado at the White House Thursday. 

Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. had captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and that the U.S. would be running Venezuela until a safe transition could occur. But instead of endorsing Machado, Trump cast doubt on her abilities to lead the country. 

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.” 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration chose not to support Machado because the U.S. didn’t want to make similar mistakes to the ones it made in the Middle East in Latin America, although he said he had “tremendous admiration” for Machado.

TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

“But there’s the mission that we are on right now.… A lot of people analyze everything that happens in foreign policy through the lens of Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan,” Rubio said Jan. 4 in an interview with CBS. “This is not the Middle East. This is the Western Hemisphere, and our mission here is very different.”

A classified CIA assessment, which senior policymakers requested and presented to Trump, evaluated who would be the best fit to oversee an interim government in Venezuela following the overthrow of Maduro, a source familiar with the intelligence told Fox News Digital. Ultimately, it was determined that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would be best situated to lead the country. 

Although The Washington Post reported that Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 — an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him — the White House claimed Trump’s choices were based on “realistic decisions.” 

As a result, Trump has put his support behind Rodríguez who is now serving as interim president. On Wednesday, Trump shared he had a call with Rodríguez, and later described her as a “terrific” person.

“We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday.

RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’

“This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL,” Trump said. “Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”

Specifically, Trump said he and Rodríguez discussed oil, minerals and national security matters. On Jan. 7, Trump announced that Venezuela would provide the U.S. with 50 million barrels of oil that would be sold “immediately.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Rodríguez voiced similar sentiments, saying their “courteous” call “addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.” 

Meanwhile, Machado has praised Trump for his role overthrowing Maduro, and told CBS News that the president and the U.S. have “done much more than anybody thought was possible.”

On Thursday, the White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s previous comments to Reuters, when asked what the president planned to discuss with Machado. 

“I think we’re just going to talk,” Trump told Reuters Wednesday. “And I haven’t met her. She’s a very ‌nice woman. ‌I think we’re just going to talk basics.” 

TALARICO, AUCHINCLOSS: Trump’s blood for oil strategy is as reckless as it is illegal

The president is pitching blood for oil in Venezuela. It’s a dangerous mission, a corrupt deal and a lawless precedent. Congress must stop this recklessness before it costs the lives of American troops.  

One of us is a congressman who commanded Marines in jungle training in Latin America. The other is a state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate out of Texas, the biggest oil producer in the country. We’re both members of Majority Democrats, a group of elected leaders dedicated to rebuilding trust with the exhausted majority of Americans. Whether seen from the perspective of the military or the Texas middle class, we agree: Republicans in Congress are failing to provide a check and balance on warmongering. 

The president’s strikes against Venezuela have left in place the gangsters running the country, but put them on notice that their oil is now his. To take it, President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants U.S. oil majors to start rebuilding Venezuela’s derelict energy infrastructure. That’s expensive and hazardous. 

Chevron and the rest will want serious support from the U.S. government. For starters, their personnel and assets require security. Pro-Chavismo Venezuelan forces, leftist Colombian terrorists and transnational criminal organizations are all threats. This is why the president refused to rule out American boots on the ground. He may need troops to serve as armed guards for oil extraction.

MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION

The enemies awaiting Americans deployed to Venezuela have spent their whole lives traversing its jungles and rivers. The U.S. military, by contrast, has trained two generations in patrolling and close-air-support that presumes long line of sight, not dense canopy. Jungle warfare would be a new and nasty mission. 

Make no mistake: our Marines, soldiers and sailors would complete that mission. They are the finest fighting force in the world. But they would be fighting for oil money for the rich – not for democracy, drug interdiction or a better future for Venezuelans. Hit by raids, cut off from fire support, infected by malaria — all in the service of crony capitalism. 

Last year, Trump promised oil executives “a great deal” if they donated $1 billion to his campaign. He is now offering them 300 billion barrels of oil. It won’t make gas any cheaper for Americans this decade. Projections for 500,000 extra daily barrels would not make a price dent in a market where 100+ million barrels are sold daily. It also won’t bring jobs to Texas, where Chevron just laid off 200 workers in Midland.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Chevron executives and other administration allies, though, stand to gain power and wealth from controlling the world’s largest oil reserve. As with tariffs, AI and his tax cuts for the wealthy, the president is once again pursuing policies that further consolidate wealth and power. 

He’s also, once again, breaking the law. The attacks on Venezuela are illegal. The president claims he is only using the military to support law enforcement in executing an indictment. Hard to take that claim seriously from a man who had U.S. soldiers on their knees to roll out a red carpet for the war criminal Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Apart from its risibility, though, the claim is bogus. Absent an imminent threat to the homeland, the president needs congressional authorization to use military force. There is no threat from Venezuela too pressing or existential to deliberate upon in Congress. If the president were concerned about drugs (He’s not.), he could get tough on Chinese fentanyl exports (He hasn’t.).  

Neither party should accept the precedent that a commander-in-chief can bomb cities and capture foreign leaders without so much as a phone call to Congress. It’s a recipe for more military adventurism, more blood and treasure sunk by poor planning. Indeed, the president is already jawboning about Cuba, Greenland and Colombia. Republicans in Congress must stop acting like sheep. Neither our military nor our economy would benefit from open-ended deployment to Venezuela. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JAKE AUCHINCLOSS

Socialism cost me my country. Trump arresting Maduro might help us get it back

I never thought I’d see the man who destroyed my family’s life in handcuffs. But that’s exactly what happened when American forces recently captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. “Trump is doing it!” my mother told me through tears over the phone. I never heard her happier. I was in shock. I stared at my phone, scrolling through videos and breaking news on X — my mother was right.

When I was growing up in Venezuela, I suffered alongside my parents who were forced to close our cosmetics business thanks to socialist government price controls. My parents made sacrifices and didn’t eat so I could.

Those experiences inspired me to become a college campus activist in Venezuela against Maduro’s regime. I spoke out and promoted the truth about capitalism and liberty. I was soon expelled from school, labeled a terrorist and threatened with prison time.

TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

My cousin had already been jailed for his activism, and my family did not want the same for me. So we fled seeking political asylum in America.

It saved my life. America gave me a future of freedom and opportunity. And now, thanks to President Donald Trump, I have witnessed a measure of justice I never imagined possible. 

My family and friends still in Venezuela are overjoyed. Perhaps there are no people more grateful for America’s president right now than Venezuelans. 

Even though many of my friends and family in Venezuela are celebrating, they must do so quietly. Maduro has fallen, but his regime remains in power. Those who celebrate in the streets or post online still risk punishment and prison. This is not a happy ending for Venezuela, but a new beginning.

MIKE PENCE: VENEZUELA HAS A CHANCE FOR FREEDOM, THANKS TO TRUMP AND OUR ARMED FORCES

What happens now is uncertain, and many wonder whether Venezuela will become another Iraq or Afghanistan.

But Venezuela is not a tribal country defined by sectarian violence. It is a Western nation with a long democratic tradition prior to Hugo Chávez, a shared language and a deeply Christian culture — more than 90% identify as such. This is not a country divided over whether tyranny is acceptable — it is a country that has been held hostage by force.

María Corina Machado — the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the democratic opposition — has not yet assumed power. That’s because Machado has the support of the Venezuelan people, but not control of the military. Venezuela’s armed outfits are now, and have been for some time, a vast criminal enterprise loyal to cartels. That’s why President Trump, rather than pretending the regime collapsed overnight, is establishing a process — what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as stabilization, recovery and transition.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS US WILL SHAPE VENEZUELA’S FUTURE AS TRUMP EMBRACES ‘AMERICAN DOMINANCE’

Do Venezuelans trust current leader Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president? No. She helped build the machinery of repression that terrorized the country. But she understands something Maduro did not: Trump is deadly serious.

Maduro challenged Trump. He is now sitting in a New York jail cell. The regime has never been weaker.

If Rodríguez is cooperating — as the Trump administration suggests — it may already be creating fractures within the regime. Figures like Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino López built their power on violence, not compromise. That internal tension matters.

RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’

This moment is fragile. Multiple outcomes are possible — internal splits, renewed repression, cooperation or a negotiated transition. But one thing is undeniable: Venezuela — and the world — are better off with Nicolás Maduro behind bars. 

Maduro was not a president — his elections were scams. He was a fugitive who was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 for narco-terrorism. Venezuela’s alliances with bad actors like China, Russia, Cuba and Iran continue to wreak havoc on America, and the world. But now, a major player is finally behind bars. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Yet, too many in America are actually condemning the capture of a socialist dictator. Protesters outside the detention center demand Maduro’s release. They ironically praise his regime, apparently without realizing they would never be able to protest in Maduro’s Venezuela without being arrested.

Still others absurdly suggest Maduro is a conservative Christian leader.

The same Maduro used Venezuela’s so-called “Anti-Hate Speech Law” to persecute Catholics who dared criticize his regime. He publicly insulted clergy, calling priests “devils in cassocks,” and even ordered investigations against them.

Venezuela’s Catholic shepherds remained undeterred and repeatedly condemned Maduro’s Marxist socialism. They have warned it “threatens freedom and the rights of persons and associations and has led to oppression and ruin in every country where it has been tried.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Freedom is an exception, not the norm. And America is unique in its commitment to liberty. Venezuela didn’t become a dictatorship overnight. It happened gradually with promises of fairness, more government control sold as compassion and the suppression of dissent. By the time people realized what they had lost, it was already too late.

I fled socialism to survive. And I urge Americans to avoid learning these lessons the hard way. Because I understand how easy it is to lose freedom — and how rare it is to get it back.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM FRANKLIN CAMARGO

Venezuela’s acting president touts ‘new political moment,’ hints at further release of political prisoners

Interim Venezuela President Delcy Rodríguez announced Wednesday that her government will continue to release prisoners detained under the rule of former President Nicolás Maduro in an initiative she touted as a “new political moment,” according to The Associated Press.

Her comments came just days after the interim government freed at least four U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela, marking the first known release of American prisoners since Maduro was ousted in a U.S. military operation earlier this month.

During her first press briefing since becoming acting leader, Rodríguez reportedly told journalists in Caracas that the process of releasing detainees “has not yet concluded,” emphasizing that the effort to free those held under Maduro’s rule is ongoing. 

Rodriguez then promoted a “Venezuela that opens itself to a new political moment, that allows for … political and ideological diversity,” the AP reported.

VENEZUELA RELEASES MULTIPLE AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM PRISON FOLLOWING MILITARY OPERATION

The outlet added that possibly 800 prisoners, including political leaders, soldiers and lawyers, are still being detained, citing Venezuelan human rights organization Foro Penal.

Rodriguez also claimed her government had already released 212 detainees, but human rights organizations have estimated lower figures, The AP added.  

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO PROTECT VENEZUELA OIL REVENUE HELD IN US ACCOUNTS

The Maduro ally insisted that the prisoner releases do not signal a break from the past and are not the direct result of U.S. pressure, but she credited the effort to the ousted president, The AP reported. She said Maduro oversaw the release of 194 detainees in December, noting that he did so because he “was thinking precisely about opening spaces for understanding, for coexistence, for tolerance,” according to the outlet.

While Rodríguez has not provided a detailed framework for determining who will be released, she said decisions will be guided by an evaluation of “crimes related to the constitutional order,” warning that “messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted.”

The actual coordination of these releases will be handled by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he recently had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was captured and flown to the U.S. to face drug-trafficking charges.  

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Key Republicans flip, kill effort to restrain Trump’s policing power over Venezuela

Senate Republicans successfully spiked a bipartisan attempt to curb President Donald Trump’s war powers authority after a pair of key GOP lawmakers reversed their positions. 

Republicans turned to a rarely used Senate procedure previously used by Senate Democrats in a similar situation to nullify the Venezuela war powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. The successful effort came after five Senate Republicans joined all Senate Democrats to advance the resolution last week. 

Their move drew heavy criticism and anger from Trump, who demanded that they “should never be elected to office again.” 

SENATE GOP MOVES TO BLOCK DEMS’ WAR POWERS PUSH, PRESERVE TRUMP’S AUTHORITY IN RARE MOVE

The resolution was tanked on a 51 to 50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance coming in to break a tie in favor of Trump. 

Turning to the arcane procedural move served as a victory for both the president and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., after last week’s rare defeat on the floor.  

Thune, like several other Republicans, contended that the resolution was not germane to the issues at hand in Venezuela. 

“We don’t have troops in Venezuela. There is no kinetic action, there are no operations,” Thune said. “There are no boots on the ground. And I think the question is whether or not there ought to be expedited consideration or privilege accorded to something that’s brought to the floor that doesn’t reflect what’s what is current reality in Venezuela.”

“And so I think it’s very fair for Republicans to question why we ought to be having this discussion right now, particularly at a time when we’re trying to do appropriations bills,” he continued.

TRUMP RIPS INTO GOP DEFECTORS AS ‘REAL LOSERS’ AS SENATE READIES FOR FINAL VOTE

Thune, Senate Republican leadership, Trump and several administration officials launched a pressure campaign on the five original defectors who helped Senate Democrats advance the bill. While not every lawmaker flipped, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., proved the decisive votes to help kill the resolution. 

Hawley’s primary concern was whether the administration would place troops in Venezuela, but after several meetings and conversations with Trump administration officials, he was convinced that no further military action would take place. 

“To me, this is all about going forward,” Hawley said of his reversal. “If the president decides we need to put troops on the ground in Venezuela, then Congress will need to weigh in.”

Young kept tight-lipped about his plan until the vote opened, and explained before walking onto the Senate floor that the deliverables and guarantees he had received from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the administration were enough for him. 

Among those were promises that if Trump did want to use force against Venezuela, he would first request authorization from Congress, and that Rubio would appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a public hearing in the coming weeks to give an update on the situation in the region.

“Those who understand how Congress works, the good and the bad and the ugly, understand that votes like this, in the end, are communications exercises,” Young said. “They’re important communications exercises, but unless you can secure sufficient votes, not only to pass the United States Senate, but to get out of the House, with which is highly questionable, right, and then to override what was an inevitable presidential veto, which is impossible. No one can tell me how we get there.” 

“I had to accept that this was all a communications exercise,” he continued. “I think we use this moment to shine a bright light on Congress’ shortcomings as it relates to war powers in recent history.”

Still, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined Senate Democrats to try and save the effort. 

Most Senate Republicans who were briefed on the matter last week argued that the strikes in Venezuela were justified and that the military was used to assist in a law enforcement operation to capture Maduro.

KAINE TELLS CONGRESS TO ‘GET ITS A– OFF THE COUCH,’ RECLAIM WAR POWERS

Rubio, in a letter to Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, affirmed, “There are currently no U.S. Armed Forces in Venezuela.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Should there be any new military operations that introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities, they will be undertaken consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and we will transmit written notifications consistent with section 4(a) of the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148),” Rubio wrote.

Kaine, who was confident that he would have the votes, panned that move ahead of the vote.

“If people want to just say, ‘Hey, President Trump, do whatever the hell you want,’ Let them vote that way, but don’t change the rules of the Senate in a way that might disable future Senates that do have a backbone,” Kaine told reporters.

Iran poses a far more dangerous military test for the US than Venezuela, experts warn

Fresh off a successful operation in Venezuela, the U.S. is weighing its options as Iran’s leadership launches a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters — raising questions about whether similar military pressure could be applied to Tehran, Iran. 

In Caracas, Venezuela, U.S. special operators moved quickly to capture Nicolás Maduro. In Tehran, Iran, any comparable effort would unfold against a state with greater military depth and the ability to strike back well beyond its borders.

“Thinking of this as an operation, as in the case of Venezuela or the nuclear program, is the wrong framing,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. “This has to be seen as a campaign.”

Iran is a larger, more capable military power than Venezuela, with security forces designed to protect the regime from both foreign attack and internal unrest. Power is distributed across clerical institutions, security services and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a structure built to survive the loss of individual leaders rather than collapse with them.

IRAN GOES DARK AS REGIME UNLEASHES FORCE, CYBER TOOLS TO CRUSH PROTESTS

“Musical chairs at the top is highly unlikely to work in Iran,” Taleblu said.

He pointed to the central role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which he described as “the tip of the spear of the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” warning that removing a single figure would leave a hardened security apparatus intact — and potentially more dangerous.

That structure is backed by a military capability Venezuela never possessed: a resilient missile force that gives Iran credible options for retaliation if it believes the regime itself is under threat.

US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY

“The retaliatory capability of the Islamic Republic is still fairly intact, which is their missile program,” Taleblu said.

During heavy Israeli strikes in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, Iran’s missile force was degraded but not eliminated. While air defenses and launch infrastructure were damaged, Tehran, Iran, retains a significant inventory of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and the ability to disperse and fire them from mobile launchers. 

Analysts say the conflict reinforced Iran’s reliance on missiles as its primary deterrent, even as it accepted that air defenses could be penetrated. During the war, Israel degraded Iran’s air defenses while the U.S. moved in to strike its nuclear facilities.

Iran’s armed forces also are far larger than Venezuela’s, with nearly 1 million active and reserve personnel compared with roughly 120,000 troops in Venezuela — a disparity that underscores the very different military environments U.S. planners would face.

Iran’s antagonism toward the United States is rooted in the ideology of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which cast opposition to Western influence — particularly the U.S. and Israel — as a core principle of the state. Venezuela’s clashes with Washington, by contrast, largely have been driven by political power, sanctions and control over oil revenues, rather than a revolutionary ideology aimed at opposing Western society itself.

In Venezuela, Trump administration officials framed the operation not as regime change, but as a limited action to advance U.S. interests — prosecuting Maduro on drug trafficking charges and securing leverage over the country’s oil sector. After Maduro’s capture, Trump allowed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume power on an interim basis and expressed doubt that opposition leader María Machado had sufficient internal support to govern.

In Iran, by contrast, any military action would be interpreted as a direct challenge to the regime itself.

Unlike Venezuela, where the state apparatus remained intact after Maduro’s removal, targeting Iran’s leadership risks expanding the mission from a narrow strike into a broader campaign against the regime’s security forces.

“You could conduct an attack against the leadership, including the supreme leader, but that raises lots of questions about who comes next,” Seth Jones, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Pentagon official, told Fox News Digital.

“Is it Khamenei’s son? Is it Sadegh Larijani? Is it Hassan Khameini?” Jones said, referring to figures often discussed as potential successors. “Or do you start to look at other options?”

That uncertainty, Jones said, is what turns a leadership-targeting strike into a far broader and riskier proposition.

TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

“The more this starts to be not just the removal of a leader, but regime change, the more it becomes an expansive targeting problem,” Jones said.

Jones added that the core challenge for U.S. planners is not whether military force could be used, but what political objective it would serve.

“The big question then becomes what’s the objective — not just militarily, but what’s the political objective in Iran and how does that translate into what types of military resources you need?” he said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Such an expansion, Jones warned, would raise the risk of a prolonged and destabilizing conflict in a country of Iran’s size and complexity.

“The more you start looking at regime change and using military force for that, the more messy the situation in Iran could get,” Jones said. “It’s really hard to social engineer from the outside.”