AFN previously reported on “Operation Economic Outcast” to isolate and cripple Iran’s regime leadership. That plan was announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who likened it to a noose tightening around the necks of the IRGC.
“Economic Outcast” is also being praised by Jake Keane, the Fox News analyst and former army general. He called it a “robust” attempt to cut off Iran’s trade and financial transactions.
"Well, it's going to take some time. Sanctions always take time. It's one of the limitations that imposing sanctions has,” Keane told the cable news channel.
Keane’s upbeat analysis about “Operation Epic Fury” on Fox News, which stretches back months, has differed greatly with Bob Maginnis, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
“We're trying to starve out a regime that has been planning to be starved out for half a century,” Maginnis, reacting to Bessent's announcement, told American Family News.
“I've been saying this for a long time, unfortunately, and I don't know if the administration's listening,” he continued. “The people that put it on Fox News don't seem to get it. Unfortunately, I have been right, and I don't like that, because it's not looking good for my country.”
One topic both Keane and Maginnis agree on is a powerful ally of Iran who is not being mentioned by Secretary Bessent. That ally is China, which gets most of its crude oil from Iran. Both countries have also signed a pact that includes business and military cooperation.
During his Fox News appearance, Keane acknowledged the Trump administration is not sanctioning Chinese-owned banks, but he believes there are private conversations pressuring China to break economic ties with Iran.
Maginnis, however, says the Trump administration has failed to hold China accountable at the same time China keeps getting its oil from Iran despite a U.S. Navy blockade.
“We're playing around the sides,” Maginnis said.
