“Clearly the Iranians are trying to hedge their bets here and put more pressure on the U. S. , and what we saw here was CENTCOM detecting that and then taking military action to address it very, very quickly,” Votel said during a Tuesday appearance on Fox News’ “America Reports.
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Votel praised CENTCOM’s swift response as an “effective use of military force,” while noting that both military and diplomatic efforts will likely be needed moving forward
The comments came after CENTCOM said U. S. forces carried out “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran on Monday, targeting missile launch sites and two Iranian boats allegedly laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, as a “designated target” would have to stay in hiding, and any final arrangement with the U. S. would have to be approved via secret courier networks, counterterrorism experts warned Tuesday.
