Fred Fleitz to Newsmax TV: Iran Making Things Worse for Itself
Iran is digging a bigger and bigger hole for itself, as evidenced by Thursday’s mine attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz told Newsmax TV.
Fleitz was on “Newsmax Now” to discuss the growing crisis with Iran that seems to get worse every week. Thursday’s attack on the tankers, which left one of them on fire and spewing black smoke for hours, occurred in the strategic waterway that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
The U.S. believes Iran was behind the attack, the second such occurrence in a month.
“I just was on a not-for-attribution phone call from the State Department and they were even more clear that the evidence makes it absolutely clear that it had to be Iran,” said Fleitz, the president and CEO of the Center for Security Policy. “There’s intelligence on this that they’re planning on releasing soon.”
Fleitz added Iran, with its daily dose of anti-American rhetoric and now two separate attacks on tankers and oil production facilities, is sailing into treacherous waters.
“Almost exactly 30 days ago, there was another attack, apparently with mines,” he said. “And this time, the attack did far more damage. Iran is getting itself in a worse and worse situation. Just as Iran is negotiating with [Japanese] Prime Minister Abe and trying to convince Abe not to honor U.S. sanctions, oil tankers going to Japan are attacked.
“That’s certainly not going to encourage the Japanese to cooperate. I think we need to stay the course, get the world to pressure Iran to change its behavior.”
The Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and has instead placed crippling sanctions on Iran. That policy appears to be working, Fleitz said, because the Iranian government is handing out fewer dollars to terror groups because it simply cannot afford it.
