GOP Lawmaker Warns ‘The Clock Is Ticking’ on Iran’s Oil Industry as Trump Weighs Next Move

As tensions escalate in the Middle East, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, warned that Iran is operating on its own hidden timetable, and that the United States holds key leverage through the Islamic Republic’s struggling oil sector.

In an interview addressing the growing Iranian conflict, Fallon detailed that Iran is running out of storage capacity for its oil. “Unlike most things in the world, you just can’t turn it off,” he said. “If they stop producing, it’s going to damage their wells, and they’ll only produce 20-25% in the future going forward. That would be catastrophic for the economy of Iran.”

Fallon argued that President Donald Trump must eventually draw a “line in the sand,” proposing a deal that includes Iran handing over roughly half a ton of its nuclear material, a binding promise to never export ballistic missile technology or sponsor terror, and a guarantee that the Straits of Hormuz remain open for commerce.

The congressman accused the Iranian regime of employing a “delay, delay, delay” strategy, hoping to wait out the current U.S. administration for weaker Democrats to return to power. “They can play them and just stall and do what they’ve been doing, which is killing their own people and terrorizing the region and the world,” Fallon said.

Citing a Harvard-Harris poll, the interview noted that a supermajority of Americans overwhelmingly back all of Trump’s demands on Iran, with nearly 8 out of 10 voters saying Iran must stop executing its people. According to the report, Iran has executed 600 people since January.

Fallon characterized the Iranian regime as having conducted asymmetrical warfare on the United States and the West for the last 47 years, calling them “thugs” and “murderers.” He added that over 40,000 people were killed during protests earlier this year.

“You can’t believe them,” Fallon said. “It is a trust but verify. The president should get tough, and if the United States stays united, this regime will fall.”