TEHRAN — With its military campaign against Iran bogged down in stalemate and unmet objectives, the United States has redirected its imperial ambitions toward seizing the national treasures of Venezuela, which it now treats as a conquered territory.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy confirmed the seizure of 13.5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from a research reactor near Caracas.

This operation, described by officials as a “win for the world,” is being widely condemned by international observers as a brazen act of imperialist plunder. The uranium was transported by land and sea to a facility in South Carolina, the U.S. said.

The removal of the stockpile follows the violent January 3 kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, an act of international piracy that has effectively turned the entire Venezuelan nation into a hostage of American interests.

Since the abduction, the U.S. has tightened its grip, installing a compliant administration under Delcy Rodríguez through explicit threats of an “even worse fate” should she fail to serve Washington’s whims.

Many believe Washington’s moves serve only to facilitate the plunder of Venezuela’s immense oil and mineral wealth; a view reinforced by Trump’s own statements that U.S. companies would “spend billions of dollars” to rebuild the oil infrastructure and that he would personally control proceeds from Venezuela, “turning over” 30 to 50 million barrels of oil “to benefit the United States.”

The human cost is staggering; the Venezuelan economy has been hollowed out by years of American sanctions, leaving the population to suffer through manufactured scarcity while U.S. energy firms celebrate a new era of exploitation.

While U.S. officials such as Brandon Williams have framed the uranium theft as a “signal of a restored Venezuela,” the reality is a systematic dismantling of national sovereignty.

By ignoring international law once more, Washington has shown that its “rules-based order” is merely a mask for resource theft.

This highlights a sharp contrast with the U.S.-Israeli military campaign of aggression against Iran. Since launching that war on February 28, one of Trump’s primary objectives has been the forced surrender of Iran’s 400-kilogram highly-enriched uranium stockpile from its civilian nuclear program, a demand that Iran has steadfastly rejected and has fought back against with determination.

Beyond the uranium issue, Washington has failed to achieve its other major goals: overthrowing Iran’s government, destroying the country’s military capabilities and ballistic missile program, or seizing control of Iranian oil resources.