U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets, including the new wave against Kharg Island, are steadily weakening Tehran's forces as pressure mounts on the regime and its leadership, Col. Eric Navarro told Newsmax on Tuesday.
"We're grinding them up every single day, and each day, the forces are being degraded to a level that we haven't seen, [with] hundreds of sorties a day," Navarro, the director of military and strategic programs at the Middle East Forum, said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "The Kharg Island strikes are just going to ramp up."
Navarro pointed to a broader operational effort targeting key locations affecting the Strait of Hormuz.
"There are other islands in the region that are impacting the Strait of Hormuz that will have to be cleared in order to reopen the strait," he said. "All of this is done where there's a constant planning and execution done on a rapid cycle, and you're seeing it executed brilliantly."
He also described President Donald Trump's recent warnings about Iran as part of a strategic messaging effort.
"This is non-kinetic fires with a desired audience target. Probably the Iranian people, the Iranian government, or what's left of it all, trying to impact or ramp up the pressure to get them to comply with our demands," Navarro said.
Navarro added that internal unrest in Iran could further destabilize the regime, noting limited public support and restricted communications.
"I think prior to this conflict, we estimated that only about 20% of the population supported the theocracy," he said. "But I will also note that the internet has been down in the entire country since this conflict started. That's because the Iranian regime fears its own people learning the truth about what's happening."
He said the government is increasingly focused on maintaining control.
"As the pressure builds on them, they're turning inward," Navarro said. "They're focused on survival because they know their own people want to take control of their own country again."
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, president of Project Sentinel 2020 and a Trump campaign national security adviser, adding to Navarro's comments, said that he considers accusations of war crimes being aimed at Trump to be "nonsense."
"I think at this point, any target that is used for military purposes, being civil or otherwise, is a legitimate target," Shaffer said.
Shaffer added that the administration has the capability to expand strikes quickly.
"When President Trump says he's got a list of targets that we could hit rapidly that include Kharg Island and other places, which were, you know, we will look at doing now. He's not bluffing," he said.
He noted that while operations may take time, continued strikes are likely.
"The time frame it takes may be a little bit different, because it takes time to get airplanes in and out," Shaffer said. "I think at this point that there's sufficient evidence that we can continue to hit things, which will continue to bring them down."
Shaffer said the administration is attempting to balance military pressure with minimizing damage.
"I do believe President Trump is trying to do this in such a way to minimize the damage, to get them to comply," he said. "But the longer this goes on, the more we're going to have to hit, unfortunately."
He also raised questions about Iran's leadership structure amid the ongoing conflict.
"I don't know if we or anyone else could point to who actually is in charge of the Iranian government at this point in time," Shaffer said.
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