While the Israel Lobby is a powerful force, there is also a very strong China-related, America First rationale for both Venezuela & Iran. Not getting talked about that much, but a big part of what’s going on. “Almost all of Iran’s exported oil, and more than half of Venezuela’s, went last year to China, which remained one of the only purchasers of goods from the two heavily sanctioned nations. The two countries combined represented some 17 percent of China’s overall oil purchases — a meaningful share for the world’s largest importer of crude oil.” -From recent Politico article