If such an attack could be traced directly to Iran, then it could be treated as an act of war. It might provide a causus belli to seize the Iranian oil fields. Although they are in poor repair, it might be quicker to fix them. And after such an attack, the Saudis and the Egyptians might support such a move. Even Russia, which would stand to profit immensely, might have to shut up and stand down.
The key here is convincing Iran that we might act in this fashion. The Saudis have a role to play in that.
The next thing we should be doing is connecting “drill here, drill now” with national security. With new technologies, we can get at a lot of natural gas onshore that was previously unrecoverable. That could serve a lot of stationary uses, leaving liquid fuels for the places where they have a special advantage: motor vehicle fuels especially.
