Haley says US should 'pursue' Iranian military over deadly drone strike
Nikki Haley suggested Tuesday morning that the United States should “pursue” Iran's military leaders in response to the drone strike by an Iran-backed militia that killed three American service members.
“Go after the launch sites where they're doing it, and then go after the leadership,” she said in an interview on CBS Mornings after making similar comments Monday.
“This is a surgical procedure,” she said, adding, “You take out one or two, and that's what you do.”
A spokeswoman for Ms. Haley's campaign said the candidate specifically referred to the leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of Iran's military.
When one of the CBS anchors, Tony Dokoupil, noted that Iran's leadership is based in Tehran and asked whether Ms. Haley was suggesting “an attack in Iran,” she responded, citing the Trump assassination of Iranian commander Qassim Suleimani government in 2020: 'When we killed Suleimani, he was not in Iran. They move around.”
She also called for more sanctions to be imposed on Iran. “They don't care if you kill their proxy fighters,” she said. “They don't care if you destroy their missiles. What matters to them is whether you take away their money or their leadership.”
More than 30 soldiers were also injured in Sunday's drone attack on a remote outpost in Jordan. The Iranian-backed militias calling themselves the Axis of Resistance have claimed responsibility and Iran itself has denied any involvement.
President Biden — who previously authorized limited strikes in response to less-lethal attacks by Iran-linked militias on U.S. forces — has vowed to retaliate but has not yet made a decision on how forcefully to confront Iran given the risk of an escalation of a regional war.
When asked by another presenter, Gayle King, if she was concerned that Americans did not have “the appetite” for a broader conflict, Ms. Haley said: “You know why they don't have the appetite? No one told them why they should care. Biden didn't say it, Congress didn't say it. You have to overcommunicate with the American people. This isn't about starting a war; this is about preventing war.”