Republican Says 'World War III' Talk Shouldn't Deter Strikes Inside Iran

Representative Dan Crenshaw dismissed fears that a U.S. attack inside Iranian territory would spark "World War III" in the Middle East.

"The World War III doomsdayers have always been wrong," said Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, while talking with Fox News' Neil Cavuto Wednesday afternoon.

"They were wrong about Russia, they've been wrong about the Cold War, they've been wrong about this, too," the congressman continued.

The Context

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration has decided how Washington plans to respond to a deadly airstrike on a U.S. base in Jordan over the weekend, which killed three military personnel and injured dozens of others. The president said that the strike was conducted by an Iranian-backed militant group, although Iran has denied involvement in the attack. Details of how the U.S. plans to react have not been shared with the public.

What We Know

Many Republican lawmakers have called on Washington to respond to the Jordan attack by striking inside Iranian territory as a way to deter further assaults on U.S. troops stationed abroad. The Biden administration said that it does not want its response to escalate tensions in the Middle East, which have been exacerbated in recent months by the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

U.S. officials have said that Iran-aligned militia groups have attacked American troops deployed in the region over 150 times since Hamas' attack of Israel on October 7, 2023, according to a report from Reuters.

Views

Crenshaw told Cavuto Wednesday that the U.S. has "thousands" of options at its disposal to respond to the Jordan attack, but added that striking inside Iran is "not out of the question."

"Iran is a half-rate power," said Crenshaw, who served in the U.S. Navy SEALs before running for office. "They can talk tough, they put out tough statements, they always have done this. There is nothing new under the sun here."

"They still know, behind closed doors, what our capabilities are, and what they need to know and needs to be more obvious to them is that we're willing to use those capabilities if they continue to take these kinds of actions," the congressman added.

Newsweek reached out to Crenshaw via email for further comment Wednesday.

Democratic lawmakers have expressed support for Washington to respond in self-defense to the Jordan attack, although many have also cautioned on how far Biden's response should go.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine told CNN Tuesday morning that the U.S. response to the airstrike could get "murky" if they go beyond military actions that qualify as "self-defense."

"A president always has the ability to act in self-defense and that definition of self-defense is somewhat broad. So those who have attacked our troops, if he knows who they are and believes they are going to do it again, the president can act to stop them, but beyond self-defense, it gets murky," Kaine said.

"There is no current congressional authorization allowing war against these Iranian-backed militia groups or Houthis in Yemen in the Red Sea," the senator added.

Update 1/31/24, 5:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.