On Wednesday Congressman Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. There he opined "if you hit Iran, you do it with tactical nuclear devices and set them back a decade or two or three."
The congressman criticized the recent Iran nuclear deal, remarking that the need to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capability is "inevitable." Asked whether he thought there would be war with Iran, Hunter responded "I sure as hell hope not."
Instead Hunter suggested a "massive aerial bombardment campaign" with tactical nuclear strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities would be the preferable route to ground war. He acknowledged that such a campaign would cost "billions and billions of dollars," but would still be better than sending US troops in.
Part of the interview can be seen here:
Another topic of discussion was US Secretary of State John Kerry's request that congress not vote on new Iran sanctions.
When asked whether congress should wait until Kerry testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee next week, Hunter was adamant that there should be no waiting and new sanctions should be pressed through on the Islamic regime.
The congressman criticized the White House and State Department as being "so in love the idea of just saying the did something here, whether it works or not, that they’re blind to reality.”
Hunter added that in the Iran deal, US President Barack Obama's administration is "making friends with our former enemies" while distancing from allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile Iranian state-funded PressTV reported Hunter's statements with a note of concern, citing Kingston Reif of the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation as saying "even suggesting such a possible course of action is the height of reckless irresponsibility and so far out of bounds it is astonishing."