Trump is using Saudi Arabia as a proxy to fight an economic war with Russia. Just like Reagan who bankrupted the Soviet Union to defeat them rather than nuclear war Trump will bankrupt Russia and Iran.
This article is straight out of the bowels of the deep state.
The difference is that Russia doesn’t have twice the US defence expenditure anymore and do not support the second and half of the third world on top of it.
And it is not particularly hostile towards US to justify ‘waging was’ on it.
The Moose limbs want more market share. They feel that they have carried our water for so many years that they are owed it. They can’t survive with $22 oil. They think by bankrupting a few fracers in the Permian that they will succeed. The only problem is that the companies that ride the storm out will just buy up the assets. Barring a world wide collapse, this will be short-lived. IMHO.
Oil Tarriffs.
I'm not sure it's only a "bonus". Russia will weather this thing just fine although not without some of those budget adjustments the article referred to. Iran may not.
With just a sliver of oil sales income remaining, domestic unrest, inflation and disease are turning the Islamic Republic into a failing state.
The strategic benefit to Saudi Arabia of having Iran hamstrung over this is considerable. Iran has shown the world how easy it is to obstruct oil through the Straits of Hormuz with thinly-veiled special operations tanker terror attacks and how easy it is to attack major shipment facilities with drones. Saudi Arabia does not have the naval resources to perform the escort services itself and greater oil independence promises to reduce the willingness of its customers to perform that function. This moves the arena from the military to the economic, where Iran is far more vulnerable.
It could, as a "bonus", make things difficult for U.S. shale/fracking operations if the Saudis could hold prices at this low for enough time, but that may turn out to be more expensive than it's worth. We'll see.