Waltz Suggests Plan to Contain Iran, Proxy Militias Beyond Strikes

The Biden Administration has ordered a series of strikes in retaliation for the deaths of three American servicemembers by an Iranian proxy militia in Jordan. Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) discussed the strikes in a recent appearance on Fox Business's Mornings with Maria, saying these should be part of a larger strategy of crippling Iran's ability to fund proxies, mainly by targeting their oil sales to China.

Host Maria Bartiromo began by playing a clip of a prior interview with former President Donald Trump on Sunday Morning Futures, where he said, "If you are going to not widen a war, then you are going to have to be a lot tougher."

Rep. Waltz began his response by blasting the Biden Administration for only striking back after the deaths of three servicemembers.

"It is tragic and a truly shameful thing that we waited until servicemembers were killed after all of those attacks, until some type of response. This is not going to be good enough," said Rep. Waltz.

To this end, he proposed his own solution, composed of two parts: First, he called for the targeting of Esmail Qaani (or Ghaani), the successor of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.

In addition to the Iranian proxy militia responsible for the killing of three Americans, the Quds Force has been active in training and organizing fighters in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. The Trump Administration assassinated the previous Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020.

Where Iran and its Quds Force get the money to fund these proxies was the second part of Waltz's proposed plan: the Senate and White House should pass the SHIP Act, which passed the House.

Originally introduced by Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), Waltz said the bill would "put secondary sanctions on Chinese buyers, shipping companies, refiners, brokers. Dry up the buyers of Iranian oil, and you dry up the cash that is going to terrorism."

The Florida Congressman's comments echo those of colleague and fellow veteran Representative Cory Mills (R-FL), who recently said, "Start actually putting back the Trump policies that sanctioned and nearly crippled all of Iran. And so, while I agree that we should have an equal and very, very direct response, we must ensure the safety of our troops first and not get into a tit-for-tat where our soldiers are playing catch with missiles, rockets, and these attack drones."