US congressman says Biden must reverse course on Iran

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) said on December 26 that the Biden administration must “reverse course” on its Iran policy to help Israel after its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas is over.

“Israel is just going to be mowing the grass in Gaza,” Waltz told Fox News anchor Bret Baier. “It’s going to grow back, terrorism is going to come back as long as Iran is flush with cash,” The Hill reports.

“The biggest thing the administration could do to help Israel, is do a 180, reverse-course on its Iran policy, go back to maximum pressure and dry up their coffers that are fueling terrorism across the region,” Waltz continued.

Iran has shown support for Hamas amid its war with U.S. ally Israel and has long-funded the organization. 

Fears of a wider Middle East conflict have been rising recently. On December 25, an Israeli strike in Syria killed a senior Iranian officer, resulting in Iran vowing to retaliate for the strike.

“Tel Aviv is waiting for a tough countdown,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

After three U.S. service members were wounded in an attack on Erbil Air Base by an Iran-backed militia group on Christmas Day, President Biden ordered strikes on locations in Iraq.

“President Biden was immediately briefed on the attack this morning, and he ordered the Department of Defense to prepare response options against those responsible. Those options were then presented to the President during a call this afternoon with Secretary of Defense Austin and members of the President’s national security team,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson in a Monday statement.

“During that call, the President directed strikes against three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities,” the statement continued.