Washington D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul (R-TX) appeared live in studio from New York, NY on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” and Bloomberg’s “Bloomberg Daybreak” to discuss Iran and other foreign policy news of the day. Key highlights below:

Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” with Steve Doocy

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On Iran…

“I think the surveillance that I have seen provides the evidence that they’re IRGC boats that put the mines on the ships. They try to shoot one of these drones out of the sky, and they failed.

“I think this maximum pressure campaign is working. I think 100,000 tons of diplomacy with our naval ships in the Persian Gulf sends a strong sign that you have to stop what you are doing. You have to get to the negotiation table. And we’re going to get a better deal than what Obama got under the JCPOA.

“They are holding American prisoners in Iran. I can’t think of any worse place to be imprisoned, by the way. They released one of them after that time. But, I followed the bill to put additional sanctions on Iran until they release American hostages and prisoners in Iran. This is almost like 1979 all over again, and it’s all coming to a head.

“We are not going to stand by idly and let somebody like Iran take Americans hostage. I think Jimmy Carter was such a sign of weakness in 1979 when the Ayatollah took over in the first place. I think it’ s time for the Ayatollah to go.”

 

Bloomberg’s “Bloomberg Daybreak” with David Westin and Alix Steel

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On Iran…

“I think with the snapback of sanctions on Iran, the lifting of these waivers on the five countries, I think Iran is getting a little bit desperate. I think about 40% of their economy depends on energy, and now they decide to retaliate in the Straits of Hormuz to stop oil tankers that are not from Iran, and that’s what you just saw the other day. You saw four previous to that as well.

“We have what I call 100,000 tons of diplomacy in the Persian Gulf. And I think the ultimate goal is to get them back to the table, to get a better deal than the JCPOA one, that would include better inspections, stopping Iran of their nuclear production, and also the ICBM capability.

“But we are talking about the Ayatollah. I don’t think he is sincere, I worry about that. I think at the end of the day they are going to be so cash starved, and it will starve their terror operations that they have in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. They will have to come to the negotiation table, or the people of Iran will rise up against them.  

“I wouldn’t say regime change, but I think about 80% of the Iranians do not want to live under the suppressive theocracy that they’re under. And I’ve talked to a lot of Iranians in the United States. And they would like to see another form of government rather than the Ayatollah.”

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