Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley encouraged the Biden administration to go after Iranian military leaders on Tuesday after a drone attack that was backed by the Iranians killed three U.S. service members on Sunday.
Haley, who was referred to as the “Iran whisperer” during her tenure in the Trump administration, said the best way to respond to the attack was by attacking something they care about, such as money or their leadership.
“Go after the launch sites where they’re doing it, and then go after the leadership,” Haley told CBS Mornings. “This is surgical. You take one or two of them out, and that’s what you do … They don’t care if you kill their proxy fighters. They don’t care if you destroy their missiles. What they care about is if you take out their money or their leadership.”
Haley said one way to hit Iran financially was to increase sanctions against the country.
“Why is Biden still refusing to enforce sanctions on Iran? He’s lining the pockets of Iran and its proxies,” Haley posted on X on Monday. “We have to drain every dollar to stop Iran’s terrorism. Every dollar Iran has is a dollar used to injure or attempt to murder our men and women in the military and our allies.”
During her tenure as ambassador, Haley was a vocal advocate of leaving the Iranian nuclear deal and introduced a resolution to the United Nations that condemned Hamas, which was supported by the majority of the intergovernmental organization.
The comment comes just days after three U.S. service members were killed and at least 40 people were injured in the drone strike in Jordan, making it the deadliest attack against U.S. forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
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There have now been 165 attacks against U.S. bases in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Roughly 120 troops have been injured in these attacks, including the deadly one over the weekend.
President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have promised to respond, but details on what the counterattack would look like have been scarce. There are two clear options: The first is to hit militant bases and commanders allied with Iran, and the second is to hold off on any drastic retaliation out of concern that it could escalate tensions in the Middle East.