Rep. Crenshaw to Newsmax: Trump Taking Right Approach to Iran

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Wednesday that he supports the Trump administration's effort to pursue a diplomatic resolution with Iran.

The possibility of U.S. military action has the region and the United States concerned.

"That's a question for the president," Crenshaw said on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" when asked what U.S. targets would be if war breaks out, whether nuclear sites, regime leaders, or both.

"I think they're letting these negotiations play out," he said.

Crenshaw, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and a retired Navy SEAL who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the focus now should be on defining clear terms in talks with Tehran.

"We need to be talking about what our parameters are in these negotiations," he said. "We can't fall for the same tricks that were played on the Obama administration, where you leave everything else off the table except nuclear facilities.

"And by everything else, I mean the ballistic missile program, their surrogate warfare program that destabilizes the region.

"You can't leave these issues off the table."

Crenshaw added that Iran's internal repression must also be addressed.

"I would also include in that killing their own people. Estimates range from, jeez, 7,000 people dead to 60,000 people dead, depending on who you ask," he said. "All of those have to be part of this negotiation."

While Crenshaw acknowledged that "it's hard to see a future where Iran agrees to all of that," he argued that the U.S. is operating from a stronger position than in previous negotiations.

"We're also negotiating from a position of massive strength, which was not the case before," he said.

"I think the Iranians now know that if they even think about getting close to a nuclear bomb, we're willing to send B-2s from around the world and bomb their nuclear facilities.

"So that does change things."

Referring to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and their return to the U.S. to face federal drug charges, Crenshaw added: "They've also seen what we did in Venezuela.

"That does change the power dynamic."

If diplomacy fails, Crenshaw said, "there is nothing that is not on the table," but he repeatedly emphasized that exhausting diplomatic avenues first is the proper course.

"This is a president who likes to exhaust diplomatic options, obviously, before taking action. And I think that's the right approach," he said.

"You want to exhaust all options diplomatically before moving on. And so that is the right approach.

"That's the approach they're taking right now."

Asked about the possibility of a surgical strike against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Crenshaw said such a move would pose significant intelligence challenges.

"This is a highly protected person in Iranian society, likely moving from place to place," he said. "You don't want to miss if you're going to take that shot."

He also questioned whether "cutting the head off the snake, so to speak, is enough to topple the regime," saying that assessment "takes quite a bit of analysis" and carries "an element of risk."

For now, Crenshaw said, negotiations are likely to continue, even with President Donald Trump's State of the Union address approaching Tuesday.

"It's very difficult to predict what happens next," he said. "The Iranians are tricky.

"They pride themselves in being clever and tricky and deceiving their enemy."

Still, he expressed confidence in Trump's leadership.

"We have a president who believes in taking action, who understands that peace through strength means you can't forget about the strength part," Crenshaw said, adding that Trump "won't be conned as Obama was last time."

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