The best way to isolate Iran in the long term is to target its oil refineries, retired U.S. Navy veteran and former Navy Pentagon staff Brent Sadler told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Israel on Wednesday said it will launch "significant retaliation" after Tuesday's massive missile attacks within days by targeting strategic infrastructure, such as gas or oil rigs, or Iran's nuclear sites.
"Each of those category of targets — going after the supreme leader and the senior leadership — carries a certain type of risk, but also a complexity to it," Sadler said on "National Report."
"Going after the nuclear infrastructure, that's a significant number of targets. [It] would probably require a sustained air campaign, carries a different level of risk, and the necessity of operations being sustained for a long time. That probably would require some assistance beyond Israel's IDF.
"And then, finally, and I think probably the most impactful, is going after Iran's money making, and that's its oil industry. And that's also where China gets a lot of its oil from. And the last thing the Chinese and Iran's other ally, Russia, would want to see is disruption of trade with that regime that it's growing reliant on from drones and ballistic missiles. So, if those three are the category of targets, probably the one that isolates the regime in the longer term is probably going after the oil refineries."
Sadler said it's not necessary for the U.S. to get directly involved in offensive actions against Iran "unless Iran attacks U.S. forces directly and harms any U.S. citizens in the region with intent."
"That hasn't occurred despite hundreds of attempts over the last year against our forces in the Middle East by proxies controlled by Iran's IRGC," Sadler said.