Most Americans will not be fooled by the Biden administration's move to expand sanctions on Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors in response to its attack on Israel, as "it's a little too late," former National Security Council Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Sunday.
"A month before the election, we're hearing that the administration will start imposing and enforcing sanctions against Iran," Fleitz said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend." "Iran is now at least $100 billion richer than it was when [former President] Donald Trump left office, because this administration has refused to enforce U.S. oil sanctions on Iran, and that oil was sold to China."
That revenue, he continued, went to finance the Hamas terrorist attack last Oct. 7.
"That attack would not have taken place if Iran was not flush with funds, because the Biden administration refused to enforce oil sanctions against Iran," said Fleitz, adding that the Biden administration's move "really means nothing."
"This is an effort to send some kind of a message that [President Joe] Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris are tough against Iran in the run-up to the presidential election, and I don't think most Americans will be fooled," said Fleitz.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department special adviser on Iran who appeared on Sunday's program with Fleitz, commented that the Israeli response to Iran's ballistic missile attack earlier this month will likely take place soon.
"My hope is that we'll see Israel [take its] gloves off and strike all the targets that they feel necessary to protect their own security," he said. "That should include heavy military sites and that should include Iran's oil infrastructure."
He added that he's concerned that the United States has been holding Israel back from making a response and "trying to almost bribe Israel into not hitting the most sensitive targets."
But Israel, he added, can escalate matters "far beyond where Iran has that ability, so they have dominance in this field, which is good to see."
Noronha added that Iran is "getting perilously close" to having a nuclear weapon, "within weeks."
Even under "maximum pressure" when Trump was in office, Iran was still as much as a year away from nuclear weaponization, but now under Biden, "we've released all the pressure," Noronha said. "So Iran is so dangerously close now with zero consequences from this administration."
Fleitz also commented about the Israel Defense Force's actions against Hezbollah, noting that it is either trying to break the organization or get it to agree to a settlement or cease-fire.
"It hasn't achieved either yet, but there is some talk by Hezbollah of a cease-fire without linking it to an end of hostilities in Gaza, which I think is promising," said Fleitz. "They're not there yet, but Israel is just trying to make it clear to Hezbollah, the people of Lebanon, that they will pay an enormous price if Hezbollah does not call off the war."
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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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