President Donald Trump did the right thing by designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a foreign terrorist organization to put the squeeze on the Middle East nation's government, Rep. Michael Waltz said Tuesday.
"You have to remember they report directly to the supreme leaders," the Florida Republican and Green Beret told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "They run themselves like the Mafia. Some estimate up to 20 percent of the economy runs through businesses controlled by the IRGC. This allows us to go after anyone doing business with them. They are put on notice."
Meanwhile, the United States has refused to do business with countries who do business with Iran, giving waivers to India and China, but Waltz said he thinks it's ready to pull those waivers back.
"If we are going to squeeze the Iranian economy, you have to go full bore," said Waltz. "You have to keep your foot on the gas, on the pedal. Those countries have had plenty of time now since we put sanctions in place in November to back off and, look, the Achilles heel of Iran is not its military. It's its economy. It's how it finances these surrogate groups all over the world."
Waltz also commented on the deaths Monday of three U.S. troops and one contractor near the military's Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, Afghanistan, after the Taliban claimed responsibility.
"I don't believe the Taliban, for a second, that they are going to, number one, that they have the will to deny Al Qaeda and ISIS to come into Afghanistan," said Waltz. If the Taliban were serious, we would see a cease-fire."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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