Mark Meadows, who once served as Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, recently shared his insights on "Hannity," suggesting that Israel might consider targeting Iran's oil refineries to financially debilitate the nation.
This comes in the wake of Israel's aggressive military actions against Iran, which commenced on Thursday with a series of preemptive airstrikes aimed at multiple military targets.
As reported by the Daily Caller, Israel's military campaign, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," was initiated with the deployment of numerous Air Force jets. The operation's primary objective is to dismantle Iran's nuclear capabilities, a mission that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has articulated as essential to Israel's survival.
During his appearance on "Hannity," Meadows was questioned by host Sean Hannity about the possibility of Israel extending its military focus to Iran's oil infrastructure. Hannity inquired, "At this point I dont think they stop until they take out all of those nuclear facilities.
The question is do they go further? Do they take away the ability of the Iranians to get any money at all, which would be oil, and that means take out their refineries?"
Meadows responded by highlighting the potential for escalation, stating, "Well the only way they go after the oil is if indeed the escalation that were seeing tonight literally as were talking, missiles are going into not only Tel Aviv but other areas of Israel. So if it continues to escalate, those kinds of oil production facilities and others will be targeted." This statement underscores the precarious nature of the situation, where further military actions could be contingent on Iran's responses.
The conflict intensified as Iran retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting various locations across Tel Aviv. This counterattack followed Israel's claim of having struck at the core of Iran's nuclear weaponization efforts, a move that reportedly resulted in the deaths of key Iranian military figures, including Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami.
In the midst of these developments, Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the United States was not involved in Israel's initial strikes. However, President Trump acknowledged that the U.S. was informed of the operation beforehand, though it did not participate in the attack.
Meadows emphasized the strategic nature of Israel's actions, noting, "But your point of and [Republican Arkansas] Senator [Tom] Cottons point of the strategic nature of the attack last night where Israel came in and actually went after military, not only targets, but individuals and not after civilians."
Meadows also reflected on the broader geopolitical dynamics, particularly the challenges of negotiating with Iran. He remarked, "But let me just say even under the previous government in Iran with Foreign Minister Zarif and others negotiating, what we see is a lot of talk and very little agreement. They will talk on one hand, prolong the negotiations and actually not ever agree to anything that would preclude them from having a nuclear weapon."
This observation points to the enduring complexities of diplomatic engagement with Iran, a nation that has consistently resisted international pressure to curb its nuclear ambitions.
As tensions continue to mount, the international community watches closely, aware that the outcome of this conflict could have far-reaching implications for regional stability and global security.
Login