On Monday, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, supporter getting tougher with Iran as tensions continue between the U.S. and that Middle Eastern nation.
Waltz appeared on Fox Business Network with Maria Bartiromo and weighed in on the Trump administration’s decision to halt military actions against Iran. The freshman Northeast Florida Republican weighed in on the situation and said he expects Iran to continue to raise the stakes.
“I do think the Iranians will continue to push,” Waltz said. “They’re like a schoolyard bully that will continue taking lunch money until they’re stopped. So that was some of my concern with not conducting the strike was that at some point, Iranians will have to be met with force.”
Waltz insisted continued sanctions and other economic pressure on Iran will lead to more negotiations.
“The reason Iran came to the table in 2012 for the Iran deal…is because they became desperate. The thing the regime cares about the most is not the Iranian people, it’s its own pocketbook and own survival,” Waltz said.
Waltz applauded Trump’s additional sanctions on Iran and praised the way the president was handling that nation.
“The president does want to use this [economic pressure] as leverage to drive people back to the table and have a diplomatic solution. For everyone wringing their hands that this president is a warmonger, I think he’s showing them they’re absolutely wrong but that he will use a military option if pushed and the United States will respond – and I think that’s a very clear-eyed and pragmatic approach.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
