Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Newsmax on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is right to press the fight against Iran now rather than leave a more serious threat for future Americans, casting the military campaign as the delayed response to decades of Iranian aggression rather than the start of a new war.
"President Trump's not going to pass this on to a fourth generation to deal with when it's even bigger and stronger than before," Sheehy said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," referring to Iran's growing nuclear and ballistic missile program.
"That's why this is the right thing to do. It's a tough problem to solve, there's no question, but it's the time to take care of it."
Sheehy, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was responding in part to criticism from Joe Kent, who resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center and said Iran posed "no imminent threat" to the United States and that the war began under pressure from Israel, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The senator rejected that argument and said talk that Israel controls U.S. policy was "just wrong."
He said Iran had spent decades targeting Americans and dismissed any suggestion that Trump was launching a fresh conflict.
"We are not starting a new war. We haven't started a new war. We are ending a war," he said.
His comments came as the war moved into its third week.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Israel killed Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force, in a major blow to the country's leadership.
Basij has been a key force for the regime to suppress dissent in Iran, while Reuters reported that thousands were killed in Iran's January dissent crackdown.
That broader backdrop fed into Sheehy's argument that the threat had been allowed to grow for too long.
"Iran has been murdering, killing, and maiming Americans for 47 years," he said. "Their foreign policy has been death to America."
Sheehy also pointed to Iran's ability to project force across the region.
Reuters reported last month that Iran has the Middle East's largest ballistic missile stockpile, citing U.S. intelligence, while Iranian pressure around the Strait of Hormuz has heightened fears of an energy shock because of the waterway's central role in global oil shipments.
Asked how the operation was unfolding, Sheehy said it was ahead of expectations despite the risks.
"It's going very well," he said. "There's no military operation that ever goes perfectly according to plan, but I'd say this is about as close as you're ever going to get."
Looking ahead, Sheehy said the immediate goal should be to strip Iran of its ability to threaten shipping lanes and arm proxy groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
But he made clear he sees a broader endgame.
"I think the regime's got to go," he said. "It's going to take time. But this is the first step in that direction."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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