Jack Keane calls for secondary sanctions on companies buying Iranian oil
Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) discusses Sec. Blinken's remarks following Israel's latest strike on Iran.
Retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane called out the Biden administration's unwillingness to sanction Iranian oil, telling "Fox & Friends" that the regime is "flush" with money to build their missile arsenal because of sales to China. The Fox News senior strategic analyst responded after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke from a G7 meeting about Israel's strikes overnight on Iran.
GEN. JACK KEANE: The important thing is there are going to be some sanctions coming forward. Certainly missiles, drone, you mentioned the steel industry. All of that is worthwhile. But he left out what is really giving Iran the money that they have. They're flush with money. And what's that from? Oil. Oil. Oil. Oil. And that should be our focus. We need secondary sanctions going after the Chinese companies that are buying all of that oil. We've got to step up here and get on with this. The previous administration had Iran in the tank with 200,000, 300,000 barrels of oil a day. Now it's close to 4 million barrels of oil a day. No wonder they have all the money to buy ballistic missiles, rockets and other long-range missiles for their proxies because they're flush with this money. And it's unfortunate we're not going after that. I don't think we have the stomach. Because it's all about China.
FILE: In this file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo on the sidelines of a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Sept. 16, 2022. (Shen Hong/Xinhua via AP, File)
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement earlier this week announcing that new sanctions will be placed against Iran in the wake of the regime's attacks against Israel last weekend.
The new sanctions come amid Republican criticism of the Biden administration for purportedly not being tough enough on Iran, after the White House extended a waiver that allowed Iran to access to $10 billion of previously escrowed funds in November 2023.
In a press release, Sullivan announced that President Biden is "coordinating with allies and partners, including the G7, and with bipartisan leaders in Congress, on a comprehensive response."
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Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.
