Hello from Fox News in Washington. We begin with a look at some of today’s top stories. Spring may be just five days away, but Mother Nature has other plans. Blizzard warnings are in effect from the northern Rockies to the upper Midwest today, where wind gusts of up to 50 m an hour will make travel treacherous. Much of the deep south could see the coldest St.
Patrick’s Day on record. Tuesday, anti-government protesters attacked a Communist Party office in central Cuba Saturday after a rally against power cuts and food shortages. It follows the drastic drop in oil shipments since the US action against Venezuela began back in January. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and his teenage daughter watched a live fire test of rocket launch system Saturday. The mid-springtime US and South Korean joint exercises this week.
South Korea’s military detected roughly 10 ballistic missiles fired from Pyongyang toward the eastern sea. And the Pentagon has released the names of the six US Air Force members killed in the military aircraft refueling crash in western Iraq Thursday near the Jordanian border. They are Captain Ariana Savino, Major John Cler, Tech Sergeant Ashley Puit, Captain Seth Koval, Captain Curtis Angst, and Tech Sergeant Tyler Simmons. In a moment, we’ll bring in the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, on that and much more. But first, we get the latest on the US and Israeli strikes on Iran with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yangst in Tel Aviv.
Hello, Trey. Shannon, good morning. Today, Israel launched a new round of air strikes against Western Iran, targeting regime infrastructure there. Intense US and Israeli bombardment has hammered the Iranian regime on a daily basis for more than two weeks in an effort to degrade the military and political infrastructure of the Islamic Republic. These strikes are expected to ramp up in the days ahead.
>> The Israeli Air Force is also continuing a powerful wave of attacks on Tehran and throughout Iran. Iran is engaging in regional terrorism and extortion meant to deter Israel and the United States from pressing on with the campaign and is receiving an uncompromising response which is strong as steel. >> Iran is still continuing its attacks against Gulf countries targeting locations there and Israel. Since midnight, at least eight missile barges were launched towards central Israel, triggering sirens throughout the night. Some damage was caused to the area, but no casualties were reported.
As a result of the missile impact, it caused fire on several vehicles and damages to several buildings. Together with the forces of the Homeront Command, the MDA service, and the security forces at this stage, we found that three people were lightly wounded. At the moment, we are working to inspect the inside buildings to see that there are no one trapped inside and of course sealing off the scene. With the war ongoing, international focus remains on the Persian Gulf, where the US launched air strikes against Car Island over the weekend. The island is responsible for up to 95% of Iran’s crude oil processing, though Iran appears to want to continue the fight.
>> The Straight of Hormuz will not be open to shipping. Not a single American Navy vessel will be allowed to enter the Persian Gulf. The presence of America in the Persian Gulf has been the main cause of insecurity over the past 50 years. It is not possible to establish security in the region without America’s exit from the Persian Gulf. >> Tonight, the Israeli cabinet is expected to meet for a consultation about the next steps in this conflict.
Shannon, >> thank you very much. >> Joining us now, Brent Sadler, retired US Navy captain and senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation. Good to have you in with us this morning. >> Yeah, good morning, Shannon. >> Okay, so let’s start here.
We want to talk about Car Island because for a lot of folks a couple of weeks ago, they’d never heard of this. They didn’t know what it was, but the president said we hit them hard on Car Island. It’s where all of this most of their exports of oil transit through here. We’ve hit their military installations, we’re told, not yet hit their oil infrastructure, leaving that in place. >> Yes.
I mean, Car Island is 90% of the throughput point for all of the Iranian petroleum products that they produce. and China has a lot to lose if that’s cut off. The military facilities there, I think, were mostly in place to try to defend against these type of attacks. So, I think what really is being sent is a message to Thran that the United States can reach out and touch those facilities if it so chooses and that there’s more to lose not only in Thran, but more importantly in Beijing if Iran continues on the path it’s on. >> Yeah.
So, let’s talk about that because we’ll go to our next map here that tells us just how important the straight is. We know this, but how much transits through there? You talked about Asia. Obviously, I think it’s about 80% of Iran’s oil heads to Asia. And so, they’ve got an interest in what’s going on here on on so many different levels.
>> Well, actually 80% of everything that exits the straight of Hormuz, the energy, that’s LNG as well as petroleum heads to Asia. Now, a few of our key treaty allies like Japan and South Korea benefit mightily from that that trade that comes out of there, but China is the biggest customer. So, China has the biggest worries and they have long supply or lines at the pump and as a kid I remember this in the 70s oil crisis. So, it’s their turn right now. Um, but yes, Asia is the biggest benefactor of that trade.
>> Yeah, I do remember that too. we’re dating ourselves, but sitting in the car, I remember my parents waiting in line, and it it was based on the number on your license plate, which day you can get in line to get gas. And so, yeah, that’s something that others are going to experience. Now, now, I want to get to this issue about their enriched uranium and us trying to get our hands on it. Um, there’s been a lot of focus on this place called Pickax Island.
It’s part of, excuse me, Picax Mountain. It’s part of the nuclear facilities there. We don’t know if that’s where the uranium is. There’s a lot of suggestion that it is. Um, but this is a tough place to get to.
We understand they’ve been fortifying this bunker as well. >> Yeah. So, it’s about a mile south of Natans, which is a well-known site for enrichment of uranium. The IAEA during the previous inspection uh routine, a regimen that they had under the JCPOA was never allowed access to this site. So, the Iranians treat this with a lot of sensitivity.
It is deeper than the other sites that were attacked last summer in Midnight Hammer. So operationally, if the United States military was given the order to go out and reach and touch this place, it’s a it’s a different nut to crack, not impossible. Boots on the ground are one of the options to actually get in there, but it may not be necessary if at least you isolate it by closing off the access points. >> Okay. And to that point, the Wall Street Journal says this.
If US bombers can’t reach deep enough, even with massive ordinance penetrators, then the job will have to be done on the ground. This could involve special forces raid or some other operation once Iran’s military is weakened further. They say the only option more dangerous is to do nothing, leaving it for the regime to enrich uranium behind a shield again. But you said it may not be necessarily that we have to take it, but at least block access. >> Absolutely.
And certainly keep it under uh complete 24-hour, 7 days a week surveillance. That might require some human intelligence around the site. Of course, uh there is certainly a lot large and probably even growing disaffected Iranian population that might be willing to provide that information, but a sensitive site nonetheless, one that needs to be watched. It is one of the legacy items of the lingering, still existing Iranian nuclear enterprise. >> All right, Captain Sadler, thank you very much.
Great to have you with us. >> Thank you. Hey, it’s Will Kaine. Click here to subscribe to the Fox News channel on YouTube. It’s the best way to get our latest interviews and highlights.
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