Georgia Representative Rich McCormick said he thinks “it’s great” that Qatar expressed its ability to retaliate after Iran launched missile strikes at a U.S. base in the region.
Ahead of an apparent ceasefire deal brokered by President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning between Tehran and Tel Aviv, which may already be in tatters, McCormick relished in the news that Qatar emphasized its right to defend its sovereignty.
“I think it's great and I think it’s a direct result of the Abraham Accords, of linking us to them,” the GOP lawmaker who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said on Newsmax’s Newsline, referencing the series of agreements aimed at defusing tensions between Israel and several Arab states.
Iran’s strike on the sprawling U.S. air base at al-Udeid on Monday came in response to America launching a barrage of bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles at three key nuclear sites on Saturday. The U.S. attack followed Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities just over a week earlier, on June 13.
The Qatari government swiftly responded Monday evening, stating that it “reserves the right to respond directly” to Iranian aggression, in accordance with international law.
“If you think about the [United Arab Emirates], they can join the fight along with Saudi Arabia. Combined, they have a larger military and a larger economy than Iran, almost as many people,” McCormick continued. “Saudi Arabia has one of the biggest investments in the military in the entire world when it comes to GDP, and they're a wealthy nation.”
The MAGA lawmaker added that Iran has alienated itself from its Middle Eastern neighbors, which, in turn, could be “very good for world peace.”
He also heaped praise on Trump for the U.S. attacks on Iran’s major uranium enrichment sites, Fordow and Natanz, along with the significant research base of Isfahan.
“They're (Iran) going to produce weapons of mass destruction, and they're threatening to annihilate Israel from the face of the Earth,” he said. “When they call us the Great Satan, the Big Satan, death to America — that's an existential threat that we cannot any longer allow.”
Just hours after Trump announced a ceasefire Tuesday morning in an attempt to ease Middle East tensions, Israel and Iran traded accusations of violating the agreement.
A spokesperson for the Iranian military told Iranian State TV that Israeli bombs fell on Iran until 9 a.m. local time, about 30 minutes after the ceasefire went into effect.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, its top security body, earlier said its armed forces were prepared to “decisively respond” to renewed attacks.
Trump weighed in on bilateral claims of ceasefire breaches, with the president telling reporters that he is “really unhappy” with Israel and “not happy” with Iran either. He continued to dig in on his claims that Iran’s nuclear regime has been wiped out.
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