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Celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead. Discover it all at Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. Richard Goldberg joins us now, Senior Advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, previously served as Senior Counsel for the White House National Energy Dominance Council. Richard, how close is that? Do you have any idea what's happening on the ground in Iran?
Yeah, I mean, listen, the fact that we're not in major military operations means that demand is high while the situation deteriorates.
So we know the president's talked about this, Treasury Secretary's talk about this. We're talking about 100% inflation just as the baseline for most products. You have higher numbers in certain staples. You're talking about gasoline that is not available because they subsidize gasoline. They can't afford to do it.
And so they're trying to limit ration. You get to a gas station towards the end of the month. They say, nope, can't get any gas here because there's no money to help you pay for it.
So the situation for the Iranian people, their demand is high. Their supply is running out. And so people are getting pretty upset. And that also means that the people working for the people in charge of the country right now are not getting paid. And so at some point, as everything is falling apart and they run lower and lower and lower in the tank on resources.
While they see the United States able to get more and more oil out of the Strait of Hormuz on our terms, the pressure they thought that would come on President Trump is not there. He's not giving in. He's found ways with the U.S. military. All credit to Admiral Cooper and our U.S.
military and partners who have figured out a covert way to get more and more oil out without an MOU, without any deals, without any extortion rackets. That means the pressure is all on the regime. It is loosening on us. And we've already done most of the military damage we wanted to do with respect to the nuclear missile programs.
So, this is now a strangulation battle, and yeah. You should be driving up the middle with that, with a covert plan to help the Iranian people seize their moment because it is a matter of time until they're back out on the streets. They obviously are afraid. That they're going to get mowed down again. I mean, 50,000 people getting slaughtered last time they came out, it's a real thing.
So, what are we doing about that? What are we doing to help those people come back out in an organized way? That's a question. That obviously is classified, that we wouldn't know, but it better be something we're working on. I hope so.
Does your gut tell you we are? Yeah, I mean I don't know how you wouldn't be doing that. I mean, this is a regime. that now is videos out about their plot to kill the president's son. I mean, these are sick people we are dealing with.
I mean, you know, in the course of diplomacy, in the course of dealmaking and strategy, the president is a smart guy. He says things at different moments for tactical reasons. But I don't think this president is in any way under any illusions that this is a regime that has to end up in the ash bin of history. And he is going to help make that happen. He's not going to do it at moments.
Where it could create pain unnecessarily to ourselves or create wounds to the global market. He's done this in a very methodical sequence way. But I don't think, if you listen to what Treasury Secretary Best is talking about here, I don't think we're talking about some deal that they break in a few months again or in a couple of weeks. I think we're talking about changing the course of history right now. Yeah, here is the Treasury Secretary yesterday talking about secondary sanctions on anyone who's dealing with Iran.
Qatari. Iran now faces a very clear choice. with only two paths before them. Complete global isolation and a subsistence economy or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy. Today, we are launching Operation Economic Outcast to foreclose every other option available to the Iranian regime.
Treasury has mapped every node, every facilitator, and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions. Beginning today, the actions of Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC. And the key is going to be Pakistan, Turkey, it's going to be India. And it's going to be uh Iraq. And most of all, it's going to be China and Russia.
Most of all, China. China is importing about 500,000 barrels a day so far in August. What are we going to do to China while still trying to make sure President Xi still arrives here on our shores and we don't get back into a trade war with them? Remember, a lot of oil went out to sea during the MOU that's on the waters. That could be part of what they're importing at the moment, what they're buying and trying to pay the Iranians certain ways.
So, we're going to make sure that that is not happening. There is a lot of money that has built up in China over the years on the illicit oil trade that had been going on for years, obviously, 2 million barrels per day until this conflict, until the blockade. And a lot of that money gets repackaged and sent as barter infrastructure investments, different things.
So, there's plenty of targets in China, all the way up to state-owned enterprises to look at there. And you have to be willing. I hate the pun, but you have to be willing to break some China if you're actually going to change this behavior. And they could retaliate.
So that's a big deal. And they have to be thinking about that in the White House. But there are other places that are friendly, you know, that there is a lot of leakage. UAE. UAE.
UAE has historically, unfortunately, been a place in Dubai where the Iranians get access to cash, where they do a lot of transshipment. And the UAE knows that that is a problem. Abu Dhabi has known it's a problem for a long time. They've tried. But what happens in Dubai sometimes?
Goes ahead without what Abu Dhabi says or wants. That has to change right now. Otherwise, it's really bad for the UAE. We saw them getting ahead of this with their statement. By the way, European capitals, there are bank branches of Iranian banks open for business in parts of Europe.
There are flights that take off and go back and forth, maybe carrying cash. All of those have to stop. And of course, you talk about the border countries, absolutely. Iraq and Turkey, where we've had gold sanctions evasion before, Pakistan. All of that has to get shut down.
If the Treasury Secretary really has a map, And he sent attaches out to every capital saying X marks the spot or else.
Well, now it's the moment of or else, and hopefully it's good news. And they start showing us the product of this mission, of things that are closing off. And if not, we're going to be waiting to see. You know, the old Chinese proverb, you've got to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and Treasury is going to have to kill a couple of chickens. Here is that Chinese foreign ministry after we had that press conference yesterday talking about the sanctions cut too.
China-Iran cooperation has always been conducted within the framework of international law and should not be disrupted or undermined. China is closely monitoring relevant developments and will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its own rights and interests. The first statement is wrong. They're not complying by international law by illicitly setting up a network of ghost ships in order to deliver oil on a regular basis. But what do you read into that?
I care less about talk. I mean, if I only looked at people's words, then nothing would really make any sense in analysis. I mean, the Iranians still claim they have total control over the straight of Hormuz while we're getting eight, nine, 10 million barrels per day out. And the President says we cleared the mines on our own.
So the Chinese can say whatever they want for propaganda purposes and for their relationship with Iran. The question is what is actually happening behind the scenes? The Treasury Department will know the answer to that, and then we'll see what they're willing to do. This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom. For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story.
The stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview. The first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old. The tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe. These are the moments that make Nordstrom Nordstrom. Big or small, we're here for all of it.
Celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead. Discover it all at Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get ahead and start on your Christmas shopping? That's right.
Check one more gift off your list with the Fox News Wine Shop Advent Calendar, featuring 12 festive wines inspired by the holiday magic of Fox Square. You can reserve yours for just a $19.99 deposit. We'll deliver it free right to your doorstep in time for the holiday season. Quantities are limited, so visit FoxNewsWineshop.com today. Or Moz, uh it looks like Iran and Oman.
Have come up with a deal essentially using the Amman side of the strait to get ships through. I read this thing like 10 times. I'm thinking to myself, wait a second. They say they created an apparent contradiction on Trump's announcement. They said they described mind-clearing that they've done.
And then they went on to say. that they set up a framework to allow traffic to get through.
So, negotiating a temporary joint shipping card through Homoz.
Now, we got about 27 through yesterday. We're 29. What do you think that means? That means it seems like they'd be opening they've opening up the straight. Here's what I think.
I think that the Iranians are desperate right now to maintain the appearance of control over the Strait of Hormuz because they don't have control over the Strait of Hormuz.
So they've tried continuing to send drones and missiles. And you do see hits. Every day you see maybe one ship gets hit, and then somehow 20 plus get through.
So they have lost the ability to stop traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. They have lost the ability to use mines to block traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. We've been doing a lot of things covertly. Again, all credit to Central Command and the U. S.
Navy.
So, what do they do now? They fly to Oman. They put out a joint release. Oh, the reason why oil is flowing is because we're allowing it. It's our control.
We have a deal with the Oman. There's no deal. This isn't real. The Omanis, by the way, are like the Swiss bankers to the Nazis. They're everything to everybody at this point.
Remember, this was the Omanis who flew to Washington and went on CBS to try to say, oh, these are great people. Don't go to war. They've made such a good deal. They're going to denuclearize. It was like the night before we launched Operation Epic Fury.
The president has talked about how upset he is with the Omani conduct.
So this is one more piece in their appeasement. But as long as there's nothing real there, they're not paying them, they're not giving them anything. You know, it's all just charades, it's all just theater, because the U.S. Navy is right now in control of what goes in and what comes out of the Strait of Hormuz.
So, Richard, Mike Pence brought this up to me yesterday because he was just in Ukraine. And he said they need patriots. We only have a finite amount of patriots. They don't need much, they said, just five percent more. And he thinks that they should go to South Korea to get them, because South Korea has some that they should be willing to spare, especially knowing that there's been a little bit of tension between our two countries.
Do you think that's a good option? I think that we should be looking at all of our global partners that have access to munitions and platforms. By the way, the Biden administration did this in certain cases earlier in the conflict, looking at Europeans who can backfill certain orders on different platforms while the U.S. was going to make good on their sales in the future. You can do that.
If you have your own munitions stockpile issues here at home while you're still building more, manufacturing more.
So we should make sure that if at all possible, with a coalition of the willing, that we have the Ukrainians with what they need because they're doing well on the battlefield. And the more Putin is up against the wall, the more leverage the president has in all of these different conflicts. What do you think if you were on John Ratcliffe's plane and he said, Richard Goldberg, what should I say to the Russians? Because evidently he landed there yesterday. Why do you think he went?
What do you think he said?
Well, obviously, it's clandestine for a reason, I suppose. But if we have evidence that they are sending arms through the Caspian, if they're doing something that we credibly believe is endangering the U.S. military, we highly suspect that targeting intelligence, things like that, I think you make it clear that we know what you're doing. You've said certain things that are untrue. And we have ways of responding.
And if you want to go down this road, you'll regret it. And you can also potentially see messages move from the White House of saying, hey, we also know you're providing these levers of financial support to the regime right now. If you cut those off, maybe there's a path forward in negotiations with Ukraine where you see benefit in the future.
So it really depends on what the president's message was and what the intelligence picture showed, but plenty of communications opportunities there for the CIA director. And John Ratcliffe is as good as it gets. I worry about Kalingrad and they're going to start militarizing that. That's basically a weapons depot, right? Right in the middle of the Baltics.
And do you also think that they've sent drones over Poland, drones over Germany? They're always infiltrating in Moldova. Do you sense that we have picked up intelligence that Russia is going to make a move, which seems ridiculous considering the trouble they're having in Ukraine, but making a move to widen this fight? It's possible. It's always been a worry, obviously.
And if we were picking up on this, you'd have to send a clear message very quickly and quietly. The opposite of what Joe Biden did, giving a press conference saying maybe we'd be okay with a limited incursion. You put the CIA director on a plan and say, we know exactly what you're planning. Do not do that because here are the consequences we have planned. Right.
Richard Goldberg, thanks so much. Always great. You bet. Did you know Fox News has a wine shop? Did you also know you can get a head start on your Christmas shopping?
That's right. Check one more gift off your list with the Fox News Wine Shop Advent Calendar, featuring 12 festive wines inspired by the holiday magic of Fox Square. You can reserve yours for just a $19.99 deposit. We'll deliver it free right to your doorstep in time for the holiday season. Quantities are limited, so visit FoxNewsWineshop.com today.
