Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said the United States can continue striking Iranian nuclear and missile targets without sending ground forces.
In a Newsmax interview, Steube said that U.S. air and naval power has already sharply reduced Tehran’s ability to retaliate as President Donald Trump’s monthlong military campaign against Iran enters a critical phase.
Steube, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on Newsmax's "National Report" that the administration has the capability to keep pressure on Iran "without putting boots on the ground," even as Trump and other officials have declined to rule out a troop deployment if circumstances change.
"And that's been the great thing about not having the need to put boots on the ground, like we had to do in Kuwait and Iraq, you know, decades ago," Steube said.
"We have the ability through carrier strike groups, through we basically control the airspace in Iran right now," he added. "So we can send in munitions, we can send in bombers, and we don't have to necessarily put boots on the ground to be able to kinetically hit targets."
He added: "The administration, the president have been very clear that they're going to go after their nuclear capabilities. They're going to go after their ballistic missile capabilities.
"The Israelis have also been hitting that. And we can do that from submarines, carrier strike groups and from our Air Force without putting boots on the ground."
The Trump administration has said Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28 with the goal of dismantling threats posed by Iran's missile forces, naval assets and nuclear program.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said March 2 that the operation was focused on eliminating the threat from Iran's short-range ballistic missiles and naval capabilities.
Steube said those strikes have already degraded Tehran's launch capacity.
"Iran's a very big geographical country. So to be able to have that impact on those type of munitions really cripples the Iranian regime to be able to respond," he said.
"In the beginning of the war, we saw hundreds of missiles being launched from Iran, and now you see a couple here and there, because the Americans have completely disabled their ability to launch those missiles and will continue to do so," the congressman added.
Steube also cast the fight in broader regional terms, calling Iran "the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the entire world" and saying the regime's removal from the equation would reshape the Middle East.
"So to take the head off the snake, if you will use that analogy, is going to make the Middle East much more secure location as we move forward into the future," he said.
His remarks came as Trump said Monday the United States could soon wind down the operation, while also threatening further strikes on Iranian energy and infrastructure targets if a deal is not reached, underscoring the gap between Steube’s confidence in a no-ground-troops strategy and the administration’s refusal to rule out a deeper U.S. role.
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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