Iran Eyes Midterms: Tehran May Want Prolonged War for Trump Defeat in November

A major escalation overseas as Tehran strikes U.S. forces in Jordan just hours after our military took out Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest exchange of fire putting the Gulf states back in focus with Iran's supreme leader calling for Muslim nations to unite. Joining us now is Fox News contributor and former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman. Dan, thanks for coming on to talk about this. You know, what do you think the goal is here for Iran? I mean, they're clearly losing and at this point I feel like they're just kind of delaying the inevitable of a full blown loss. So I mean, their nation is failing. Why keep going at this point? Well, the first thing I would emphasize is that this was an intelligence success by the United States. We did. We collected intelligence that Iran was seeking to launch rockets and place mines in the Strait of Hormuz. And we took decisive action right away to prevent that from happening. And of course, Iran has responded by launching strikes on Jordan and the UAE. I think the timing is worth noting. It's right after the United States imposed significant economic pressure on Iran. And I think what Iran wants to do is demonstrate that they still have some leverage to disrupt the global economy and inflict harm on the United States economy and the world writ large. That I think is what Iran is trying to demonstrate at this point. You know, I want to talk about the Gulf countries. President Trump, he said Iran's attacks across the region have cost Tehran support from its neighbors. Listen to this. As soon as the shooting started, they started aiming at Saudi Arabia, Qatar, at UAE, at Bahrain, at Kuwait. They were aiming. Everybody was shocked. I was surprised. I thought it was a very good thing because they lost all of the support that they had. So, you know, the Wall Street Journal, they reported that business has continued as normal in Dubai. So how do you think these Gulf countries should be responding to all of this? Well, I think we've made it pretty clear that we want to very much focus on Iran's economic ties with the Middle East and the rest of the world. There are Iranian shadow companies and shell companies. They've been exporting oil to China. They do a lot of business in the Emirates. And it's really going to be important for the United States and our partners and allies in the region to work together to shut down whatever commercial trade Iran is enjoying in the region. Iran knows that, and that's why they're launching these strikes. They're hoping to induce our partners in the region not to want to go along with the United States and support these very harsh economic pressure against Iran. And I think that's what's behind these strikes. And I think what we'll be looking for with the Trump administration, we'll be looking for in the coming days, our U.S. intelligence community collecting on Iran's plans and intentions and how Iran is responding to the United States military strikes in response to Iran. Do you think we should expect more of these back-and-forth strikes? I mean, it had been about a month, a little over a month since the last time we saw this. Is this something we should expect in the coming days and weeks to see more of? I think the Trump administration was prepared for the fact that as we increase economic pressure on Iran, that the Iranians would respond by seeking to launch kinetic strikes against us. And I think we are prepared to deal with that. And I don't think it would surprise any of us if we saw continued efforts by Iran to launch strikes in the future. Yeah, you know, I thought it was a pretty wild thought that earlier in the show, Alex Hogan was reporting that Iran was focusing on curbing inflation, creating jobs and reducing dependence on the dollar. With all of this going on, that's what they're going to focus on. Dan Hoffman, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. All right. Thanks. Of course. So, Iran attacking U.S. forces in Jordan with a source telling Fox News nearly all incoming missiles have been intercepted so far. And the attack comes after U.S. forces struck Tehran missile launchers in the Strait of Hormuz. So, Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst all over it. He's in Tel Aviv. Hey, Trey. Yeah. Hey, guys. Good morning. You know, overnight, Iran launched at least eight ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan. A U.S. source familiar tells Fox News there were no significant impacts and the majority of the incoming fire was intercepted. The attack came after U.S. forces struck Iran's Larak Island after identifying preparations for an IRGC rocket launch that was meant to place new sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM released a statement saying U.S. forces took limited precise action against IRGC mine laying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of commercial – of global commerce. Now, this is the first known U.S. strike against Iran since late July. Iranian President Massoud Pazashkian spoke today about the exchange of fire. We do not seek war. That has been our message to the world until now. However, in the face of aggression, we will not stand by. We are capable of delivering decisive response. Instability in this region would affect everyone and create serious problems. Instability is in no country's interest. The event comes as reports indicate the U.S. may ramp up economic pressure this week against Iran. Following new sanctions last week, Iranian officials reacted over the weekend with Iran's Supreme Leader, Mostafa Khamenei, urging more domestic production and less reliance on the U.S. dollar. Overnight, President Trump told Fox News this about the operation against Iran. Lockheed has been unbelievable. The financial – the financial hits that we're giving them, we're hitting them very hard. Never – nobody's ever been hit like this. And they're a failing nation right now. And at the right point, we'll either win or they'll do something, but, you know, I don't mind winning. Just winning – I don't need a signature or a piece of paper, but we're doing very well. Their navy's gone. Their air force is gone. Their leaders are gone. Their – all of their anti-aircraft. The region now waits to see if the United States will respond to that Iranian missile attack against U.S. forces overnight. Guys? Hey, Trey. So the word is they thought they were laying mines – they were, probably – and they just cleaned out the whole area. So they're not going to let them put mines down again, so it makes perfect sense. Do you get the sense that the Strait is going to continue to build? I think it's averaging 27 ships there a day, and I think when it's at its best, it's between 100 and 115. Do you get the sense it's going to continue today? Yes, absolutely. What's happening right now is we hear these statements from Iranian officials in Tehran, and they say the Strait of Hormuz is closed, but the U.S. Navy is overseeing vessels each and every night with millions of barrels of crude oil that are currently stuck in the Persian Gulf out through this southern route out of the Strait of Hormuz. And so it's an indication that the U.S. military has the ability to undercut Iranian efforts to close the Strait, and they are watching closely if the Iranians try to re-mine the Strait of Hormuz. And that's exactly what took place overnight. The Iranians have these Fars-5 rockets, and they have a distance, a range of about 65 nautical miles, and they can be used to place sea mines, and that's exactly what the U.S. military wants to avoid, because they want to keep this critical waterway open and flowing so that more vessels can start to pass through. This, coupled with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade, is putting new pressure on the Iranian regime, and it even forced Iranian officials over the weekend to admit this economic pressure. Not just the supreme leader, Moshtaba Khamenei, but also Iran's president, Massoud Pazeshki, and said in an interview with state media, I don't know what to say to people that say that sanctions have no effect on our country. Trey, Iran attacking U.S. forces that are stationed in Jordan. If you're an American family and you have a child that is stationed in Jordan, that's pretty alarming. You said the majority of the missiles have been intercepted so far. The ones that were not intercepted, do you know how many there were and where they hit? So we don't have exact numbers yet, but the indication is that the Iranians targeted U.S. bases in Jordan. Remember earlier this year, U.S. forces were killed in a similar Iranian missile attack. These are very serious missiles that the Iranians are using, and they still have some in their arsenal. We do know that the U.S. has shifted a lot of their air defense to the THAAD and Patriot systems to protect these areas and the U.S. forces that are there. And in the past, the last time that the Iranians launched a similar attack, they were able to shoot down the majority of the incoming missiles. We'll have to wait and see exactly how many were fired and intercepted, but U.S. Central Command has indicated this was a successful defense of U.S. forces in Jordan. So Trey, we heard the statement from the Iranians, essentially, as they are attacking the neighbors in the Gulf, that they want them to be partners again. And on the face of it, you look at that, and as you say, that's just ridiculous, that you can't attack people and expect them to be friends. But we've also heard of some of the Gulf states potentially doing their own deals with Iran. Is there any, I guess, facts to that, that this is happening behind the scenes, or are they going to be in lockstep with the United States? So there are indications that talks continue between Oman and Iran about control of the Strait of Hormuz, but President Trump has rejected these talks because he says the U.S. is in control of the Strait, and they will decide ultimately when and where vessels are getting through. This back and forth, though, is quite interesting, because the Iranians continue to say they're looking for alliances with Gulf countries, but they're launching missiles and drones at these countries occasionally. And we even saw this overnight. The Emiratis say that an Iranian drone targeted the UAE. It was shot down. But again, it's an indication that the IRGC is willing to escalate in the Persian Gulf and near to the Strait of Hormuz. We have to look at the reality on the ground. The Iranians are still threatening this critical waterway. This is far from over. But remember in the backdrop here, there is this ongoing U.S. economic pressure that is starting to have a serious effect on the regime officials in Tehran. And it's not just the public statements that we heard from Iran's supreme leader, the country's president over the weekend. When you look at the number today, the Iranian rial hit 2.1 million rial to one U.S. dollar, a historic number. And it's an indication that the currency is weakening. They don't have the ability to export crude oil, and this was mentioned yesterday by Iranian President Pazeshkian. And they are economically isolated. And if we do get more sanctions this week, it's another indication that the Trump administration is pushing forward with this economic operation to isolate the Iranian regime and try to get them to change their behavior. But again, there is a splinter within Iranian leadership about what to do next. Iranian President Massoud Pazeshkian said earlier today that the country doesn't seek war and they need to go back into talks with the United States. But then you have IRGC officials that are launching missiles toward U.S. forces in Jordan. Thanks so much, Trey. Fantastic analysis. The New York Times today, and you know, usually the first four stories are pro-Iran, against the U.S. The New York Times says the squeeze, the squeeze on gas prices has the government fearing for unrest. They say there are gas lines at three in the morning now in Iran. Three in the morning. So now the subsidies have stopped, the gas has stopped, the jobs, the jobs numbers are horrendous. They've lost something like three million jobs since this conflict began. And now you hear about how useless and worthless their currency is. So how much longer can they take this? I just hope there's, as Ted Cruz said yesterday, I hope there's an operation to get some guns to these people so they can take back their country. I want to go back to the, the Massoud knows exactly where their allies are. If they could start doing that and letting no defectors have a place to go and then maybe arm those people to start taking out Basij so they have a way to get their country back. We tried once and it looks like that didn't go too well. With the Kurds. One time. So hopefully we can try that again. Well, we saw what happened in January when they revolted. A lot of, a lot of the residents were killed, just shot in the back. And we know what Iran's capable of and they will do that again. But how much more can the people take? The United States and Iran trading strikes overnight as tension escalate between Washington and Tehran. Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yinks just spoke with the president and joins us with the latest. Trey, what do you know? Yeah, Lawrence, good morning. I just spoke with president Trump who told Fox News, the United States will respond to the Iranian attack on us forces overnight in Jordan. The president said we're going to hit them hard. There will be a response. He indicated that all of the missiles except one were intercepted by us air defense systems. One missile was identified as not going to hit anything significant and they allowed it to pass through the airspace. This comes as the president said, the Iranians want to meet so badly, but he doesn't know if you can count on them to make a deal. But added that the current U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime are kicking in strongly. But again, the headline here, President Trump telling Fox News that the United States will respond to this attack on U.S. forces in Jordan overnight. Lawrence. As expected, the president always responds when they attack us. Thanks, Trey. The president tweeted some AI generated video of bombing of Park Island. Was that meant to be a warning or what was the messaging there? Why did the president tweet that? Well, you know, like the president likes to switch it up on social media a little bit. He would be the first to say he doesn't make announcements about military actions on social media. But I think that he's sending a message to the Iranians. Look, we know that they continue to shoot a commercial shipping. We continue to have a lot of tools at our disposal to prevent them from doing so, or at least cut down on them from doing so. And that's what the president is saying is, look, you guys are shooting at commercial shipping. You guys are behaving like a terrorist country. You've got to stop. Are there going to be some consequences about Venezuela really quickly with the deal for the 65 billion in reserve in Venezuelan oil? When will the U.S. see the first barrels of oil from that deal? I think importantly, we're actually already seeing significant increase in oil production out of Venezuela, which is one of the reasons why, despite a lot of people predicting that oil prices would go to $200 a barrel, they're obviously higher than they were a few months ago, but they're sort of much more stable, in part because of what we see coming out of Venezuela. So, look, I think that we are going to see significant increase in production. The 65 billion barrel reserve is a big part of that. But I think it's a mistake to say, when will we see increased production, because we're already seeing increased production already. Are you concerned about global vulnerabilities because of continued operations in Iran, either because of munitions drawdowns or other resources devoted to the region? Well, look, I think that we're in a position in the United States where, as strong as we have ever been, we're only going to get stronger under the president's leadership. We certainly saw under the Biden administration that the military was underinvested in and under-resourced. We're fixing that every day. So obviously it's a concern of ours, but it's a concern of ours because of underinvestment in the military for a very long time. It's something the president of the United States has said about fixing. On AI, President Trump today said that Americans should get on board with wanting more data centers. How do you think that message goes over ahead of the midterms, where this is becoming kind of a touchpoint in some areas? Well, what the president said about data centers is they're an important part of the AI economy. When people build them, they have to build the power plants along with the data centers. I think probably 99 percent of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utility and higher electricity for the people on the ground. So I think what these companies have to do is take advantage of some of the federal deregulatory efforts that we've undertaken. If you build the data center, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out. And if that is happening, I don't think the data centers are that controversial. It's when the utility bills get so much higher, that's when it's a real problem. All right, guys, we'll see you on the other side. Take care. Thank you. We are also awaiting America's next move after Iran attacked U.S. forces in Jordan overnight. President Trump telling Fox the U.S. will hit back hard after the first known exchange of strikes in a month. John Roberts, welcome to Monday. Sandra, it's a little bit of Groundhog Day when it comes to Iran. It is good to be with you and start this new week with you, John. I'm Sandra Smith in New York. This is America Report. So Iran's attack comes just hours after U.S. forces hit Iranian military positions in one of the narrowest parts of the Street of Hormuz. And the military pressure is only one part of it. The U.S. is also tightening the economic squeeze on Tehran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett now pressing G20 finance officials to cut trade ties with Iran and says their latest attack is a sign that pressure is working. They are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically. The economy doesn't have to collapse. We just have to have the regime come to their senses. Brent Sadler will react here in moments. But first, let's get to our chief foreign correspondent, Trey Yinks, who's reporting live out of Tel Aviv. Trey. Sandra, good afternoon. President Trump told Fox News there will be a response to that Iranian attack on U.S. forces overnight in Jordan. The president said we're going to hit them hard. There will be a response. Now this comes after Iran launched at least eight ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan. The president says all of the missiles were shot down, with the exception of one that wasn't going to hit anything significant. The attack came after U.S. forces struck Iran's Larak Island after identifying preparations for an IRGC rocket launch that was meant to place new sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM released a statement saying U.S. forces took limited precise action against IRGC mine laying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping and the free flow of global commerce. This is the first known U.S. strike against Iran since late July. The event comes as reports indicate the U.S. may ramp up economic pressure this week against Iran. We continue to have a lot of tools at our disposal to prevent them from doing so or at least cut down on them from doing so. And that's what the president is saying is, look, you guys are shooting at commercial shipping. You guys are behaving like a terrorist country. You've got to stop or there are going to be some consequences. Following new sanctions last week, Iranian officials reacted over the weekend with Iran's supreme leader, Moshtaba Khamenei, urging more domestic production and less reliance on the U.S. dollar. The pressure is starting to build in Tehran with civilians speaking out about the rising cost of goods and broader economic situation. Unfortunately, that overshadows things somewhat. Maybe if the economic situation was a little better now, perhaps the war wouldn't have been reached that ceasefire. They might have kept going a bit longer, but I think the economic situation could become more challenging. The region now waits to see how the United States will respond to that Iranian attack on U.S. forces overnight. Sandra? Trey Yinks with that out of Tel Aviv for us. Trey, thank you. John? All right, Sandra. Brett Sadler is here, retired Navy captain, former Pentagon official. So the president, according to Trey Yinks, is a conversation set about Iran, that there's going to be retaliatory strikes coming. He said, quote, we are going to hit them hard. And this after attacks on the al-Azraq airbase and the King Hussein airbase in Jordan. I mean, all of the missiles except one were intercepted. The one that wasn't intercepted fell in a place where it wasn't going to hurt anybody. There were no injuries, as far as we know from this. But it's pretty clear that the president is saying, I'm done with this game that Iran is playing. I'm not going to sit back and let them retaliate and not hit back again. No, absolutely. I think the tempo and the response, the size of it is for the president to decide. And I think that is something that gives us the benefit of time, not to go too high and right or too excessive in the response, but keeping the main thing the main thing, that is, allowing the economic D-Day to play out, but at the same time having an adequate and very timely military response. Another point that I think is important to note, the attack on Lerach Island, where there was apparently like rocket-assisted mines that were going to be placed, that proactive military response, not waiting until after the Iranians attack, is a key thing. And that should probably be something to be looking for to be continued and more aggressively along that coastline in the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, just looking at the map there, Lerach Island is about 20 miles off of the coast of Iran. It's near Qeshm Island and Hormuz Island. That's where they had some missiles with mines somehow attached to them that they were going to try to fire into the Strait of Hormuz. And what's really interesting, too, we can put up this other graphic of transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Going in between Lerach Island and Qeshm Island, as demonstrated here in this or illustrated here in this graphic, was the so-called Iranian extortion route. You get them close enough to Iranian territory, you can charge them a million dollars to go through. That's right. Lerach Island is definitely a tactical importance in the control of the Strait of Hormuz. And with the amount of American military assets in the region, it's clear there's a lot of eyes along that coastline. And so if the Iranians are bold enough to move or to try to put a missile in place, it gets hit before it even gets the shot off. So Jack Keane was on a newsroom earlier this morning and said he thought that the Iranians trying to re-mine the Strait of Hormuz and using missiles to do it as opposed to boats because we don't have a lot of boats left really was a sign of the desperation that they're in right now. Listen to what he said. I think clearly the Iranians, I think, are in a more desperate mood here than what we've seen in the past by imposing this now. And obviously, we dealt with that. Cooper has what we call preemption authority. If he sees Iran getting ready to do something, he doesn't have to ask permission to act. The president said last week that the Space Force is watching every square inch of the Strait of Hormuz. And if the Iranians get ready to do anything like they tried to over the weekend, they're going to get punched and punched hard. Absolutely. And as far as those missile launches, again, continuing on after the first two weeks of this conflict, the Iranians are not able to really launch massive missile strikes and certainly not coordinated. So that's still the truth. But they're also every time they take a shot at our bases in the region, it's like a finger pointing right back to where they're operating, where they're moving from. And so if the president does decide to go after those launchers, they probably have a pretty substantial amount of intelligence to make it hurt. So what do you think the president does go after? Does he just go after the launchers because obviously Space Force saw everything happening? Or does he go after a different target to send a stronger message? I think he does both. He continues the proactive military posture in the Straits of Hormuz. See a threat, attack the threat as well as going after these actual ballistic missile attacks, because that's been the other option the Iranians have kind of fallen back on. They don't have much left to do and their only leverage is in the Strait of Hormuz, which we are rapidly removing completely. You know, I said over the weekend and on accident, it's like a juvenile delinquent with a box of matches. They just can't help themselves. Absolutely. Brett, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. We went into Iran and we're beating the hell out of them and doing a good job. They don't know who the leader is. You have the radicals, but they've been wiped out from the standpoint of the military because the military is just a fraction of what it was. They were called the bully of the Middle East for a reason. They're not the bully anymore. President Trump today with his take on how he says the U.S. is winning the Iran conflict. Let's bring in Fox News senior strategic analyst, retired General Jack Keane. General, thanks for being here. You know, Larrick Island, the U.S. forces hitting these Iranian rocket launchers over the weekend. First action in a while that we've seen and the president threatening more, but maybe more telling is that we're getting reports that senior leadership from Iran is fleeing the country in the wake of these economic sanctions that have really, really changed the dynamic. Yeah. Well, certainly the pressure that Secretary Besson is putting on the regime is really quite significant. It's likely the most comprehensive attempt to isolate a country, both economically and financially from the world writ large. And certainly, as we've seen in the past, it does take sanctions, take some time and enforcement is really critical. We watched these sanctions in the past and countries that say they're going to comply do initially. And then in a few weeks, it's a little bit less and then sometimes it falls off completely. But it is quite an ambitious plan. And I think Secretary Besson is obviously very well qualified to be in charge of this. Where the Iranians, I think, are coming from here with this attack is they're dealing with the reality that the Straits of Hormuz, which is a strategic asset in their mind, after all, when they took charge of it and disrupting it, intimidating coercion shipbuilders on March the 2nd, just a few days after the war commenced, that absolutely had an impact on the administration. Oil and gas prices, remember, began to spike and we went to a ceasefire, ostensibly because the Iranians were willing to negotiate and over the Straits of Hormuz. Obviously, we don't have a deal as a result of that, so four months later. But their position is weaker. And the reality is that Admiral Cooper and his team have been moving ships steadily through the Straits on the southern corridor there, closer to Amman, and the trend is up in terms of the number of ships getting through. And they just finished clearing the central corridor of all its mines. Thus, the attack from Iran, obviously to continue to disrupt this as much as they can, even though their position is getting weaker. I think the Iranian threat will continue their aggression as we get closer to the midterms and maybe even increase it as it gets closer, because they clearly want President Trump to lose these midterm elections and be in a weaker position, and they're trying to emphasize that the war is not being managed properly. That's their game plan here. And they think in their minds they can outlast us, you know, the time is on their side. I mean, they're diabolical, tyrannical leaders here. And we won't know for sure of the impact of what Besson is doing, and obviously the military responses here, until it truly happens right before our eyes. It's unknowable to predict if the regime is going to collapse now or weeks or months from now. But there has to be some fissures that are going on in that regime right now, and I'm hoping the CIA and the Mossad are exploiting what you just described as some of the leaders beginning to weaken and maybe even get out of the country with their families alive. You know, Secretary Besson said the reason Iran's striking back kinetically and they're firing at UAE and Jordan and U.S. bases in the region is because they are feeling such a pinch economically, to your point. I want to turn topics to this Washington Post article over the weekend. Military leaders warn Secretary Hegseth against extending Iran war operations. You know I covered the Pentagon for six years. This piece was very detailed, very, very detailed. And the Pentagon, while they pushed back on it, said that they thought it was classified information that was released, they said it was inaccurate. But it seemed like it came from senior leadership. You get that and that story and the detail in there, and then you get Dan Driscoll resigning as Army secretary ahead of what a lot of people thought was going to happen, wait until after the midterms and maybe run Vice President Pence's possible campaign. Yeah, well, obviously it's an open secret that the United States has issues with its arsenal and stockpile of ammunition. And certainly what we've been providing to Ukraine and what we have been conducting here in this operation since February 28th, obviously there's been a ceasefire here for some months, but intermittently we've still been using weapons, has had some impact on all of that. But I think, drawing back from it, I'm not privy to the information that they have, but I think in my own judgment about it, what they're really concerned about is the extensive war that possibly could take place. Remember, the original plan to execute this was somewhere around 50-something days. We stopped at the 38th day. And there is no doubt in my mind that Cooper has the ammunition and the stockpile available to him to execute that mission, offensively and defensively. I suspect, don't know for sure because I'm not in the discussions, nor should I be, that they're talking about if this thing gets extended out, then it's going to have impact in their theaters, and the service chiefs, obviously, they see up close all the ammunition they have in their arsenals. But look, we have got to fix this stockpile and this arsenal that we have. And having participated in this, yeah, what happens is, when you have defense budgets that are not what they should be and you have to make decisions about what to cut, where do you go? Well, you don't want to cut anything that's affecting the current force. You cut the future force. I did it myself. And we've been paying that price for a long time, and it has to do with the press. Defense budgets drove this more than anything else. Yeah. And General, we always appreciate the time. My point is, there's a lot of public coming out, and whether it's being leaked for a purpose, Secretary Haig says at the center of it, we're going to see where all this goes politically. General Keene, as always, thank you. Be sure to like and subscribe for all the Fox News latest on YouTube and catch full shows streaming now on Fox One.