They do have us over the barrel, oil barrel that is.
That, and the US will not use nukes unless attacked by nukes. To use them first would place us in a very bad way with the rest of the world.
If we attack Iran, the resulting oil price surge will hurt the west much more than any attack Iran could mount. That doesn't mean that there won't be a war, but that it will be more costly than the Iraq episode.
Major wars are not cheap. This is a major war and may well require a formal Declaration eventually and the total orientation of the economy toward prosecuting the War.
We have reserves, and we have access to Iraqi oil in a national crisis. There is Russian oil, Mexican oil and S. American oil. There are our own reserves, set aside for this very purpose. Most of all, there are the American people, who would rather drive less than be bullied by an Islamic terrorist state like Iran.
"That, and the US will not use nukes unless attacked by nukes. To use them first would place us in a very bad way with the rest of the world."
This is what I said in the first place, we have become a fearful nation of wimps who wring their hands in worry about what "others may think". It's the effects of thirty years of PC brainwashing. But may I remind you of Harry Truman and the American people of 1945 who thought that victory over our mortal enemies was more imporant than being subject to their aggression and worrying about "what others may think".
A nuclear armed terrorist state like Iran in our times is an even worse threat than was the Japan that attacked us in 1941, IMO. If these insane islamic barbarians drop so much as one nuke in a major U.S. city the death and destruction will be greater than all American wars of the past combined. The economy will be horrible for years to come, and worrying about the cost of oil will be at the bottom of our worries.
"If we attack Iran, the resulting oil price surge will hurt the west much more than any attack Iran could mount."
So the 7th century mullah glares and the wimpy American blinks? You are easily bullied. Find your courage, put on your boots and stand up to these arseholes in turbans who so easily make you quake with fear with threats of making oil more expensive. What's the big deal, just do less driving and keep your thermostat lower and Mohammed's great strategy turns against himself. Bear in mind that if Iran stops selling oil, or if their profits drop sharply, they are in far, far worse condition than the West would be. It's their ONLY asset.