Some have proposed that the actual motive for the United States-led Western invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was Afghanistan's importance as a conduit for oil pipelines to Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, by effectively bypassing Russian and Iranian territories, and breaking the Russian and Iranian collective monopoly on regional energy supplies.
The idea that the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to secure access to oil pipelines through Afghanistan, circumventing Russian and Iranian control over energy supplies, is a key argument for understanding the motivations behind the invasion.