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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Iran could have hit Washington, D.C., and other major U.S. cities with intermediate-range ballistic missiles through proxies in Venezuela if the administration had not intervened in both countries.
Speaking at the CERAWeek oil and energy conference in Houston on Wednesday, Burgum pushed back on the narrative that Iran and Venezuela do not represent an imminent threat to the U.S. and global supply chains. He said the threat was demonstrated by Iran’s attempt to strike the U.S. military base Diego Garcia in the central Indian Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the Middle Eastern country.
“That means, you know, Venezuela was a hotbed of Iranian-funded terror groups, including Hamas. If there was an Iranian ballistic missile placed in Venezuela, it could not just reach Houston; it can reach Washington, D.C.,” said Burgum.
“So, again, the actions that the United States is taking to make the world safer is lowering the risk premium that I think was missing from the [oil and energy] market. Because, maybe, the market wasn’t recognizing the risk.”
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Left: Israeli air defence systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. Right: The U.S. Capitol building as seen from the streets of Washington, D.C. (Menahem Kahanna/AFP via Getty Images; Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Burgum accused Iran, whose government he said is in shambles following intense U.S.-Israeli bombardment, of lying to the world about its missile capability.
“They said during negotiations last year, they told the international agencies, they said it right before the negotiations broke down, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we could only go 1200 miles.’ And then they launched two missiles at Diego Garcia at 2400 miles. That means they can hit London,” he explained.
The Islamic Republic of Iran escalated its conflict with the U.S. by launching two intermediate-range ballistic missiles Friday toward Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean. Targeting Diego Garcia, roughly 2,500 miles from Iran, suggests Tehran’s missile capabilities may exceed previously acknowledged limits.
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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks alongside Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez (out of frame), after their meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on March 4, 2026. (Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)
Houston, where Burgum was speaking, is roughly 2,200 miles from Venezuela, while the nation’s capital is just over 2,000 miles away, placing both cities within range of intermediate-range ballistic missiles fired from Venezuela. Other major U.S. cities within range include Miami, roughly 1,300 miles away; New York City, about 2,100 miles; and possibly Chicago, slightly more than 2,600 miles.
On Jan. 3, Trump launched a covert military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the arrest of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Burgum said that, because of the administration’s military action, Venezuela is no longer a serious missile threat to the U.S. and is now a potentially significant oil and energy partner.
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President Donald Trump with military members after the capture of Venezuela’s Maduro in January. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)
The secretary said that during a recent trip to Venezuela with oil executives, interim President Delcy Rodríguez signaled the country has the capacity and is eager for U.S. investment in developing its oil and gas reserves.
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“The resources there are quite amazing,” he said. “And from that trip we did … we were able to bring home $100 million of gold, physically, the gold, to bring back for U.S. refiners for commercial and consumer purposes. So, the level of cooperation is going.”
