Rep. Michael Waltz: Iran has 'a long history of marching right up to the edge and then eventually backing down'

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Rep. Michael Waltz on Iranian missile response to Soleimani strike

Senior U.S. military source says an Iranian missile attack is underway in Iraq; reaction from Florida Congressman Michael Waltz, Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee.

House Armed Services Committee member Michael Waltz, R-Fla., said Tuesday that he believes President Trump will respond to any U.S. casualties at the hands of Iran in a similar way to former President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

"I think this is going to be very similar to ... Operation Praying Mantis in the late 1980s, where Iran struck and almost sank one of our frigates. Our response -- the Reagan administration's response -- was to sink half of their Navy," Waltz said on "Special Report" in response to breaking reports that Iran had fired missiles at bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

Operation Praying Mantis came in response to Iranian mines nearly sinking the U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts, a frigate that had been chaperoning Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf. The ship had to be towed to shore in the United Arab Emirates after a mine blew a hole in its hull.

MISSILE ATTACKS TARGET US FORCES IN IRAQ, SENIOR MILITARY SOURCE SAYS; IRAN SUSPECTED

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The U.S. Navy responded by bombing and sinking several Iranian military vessels and other targets.

"And beyond there, Iran didn't respond again," said Waltz, who added that Iran's government ultimately does not want a full-scale war with the U.S. because it could lead to the fall of the hard-line Islamic regime.

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"They have a long history of marching right up to the edge and then eventually backing down and surviving to spread its malfeasance another day," he said.

Waltz, a retired Green Beret, said Tuesday's events remind him of Iran's recent attack on the Saudi Arabian oil entity Aramco.

"[That attack was] very sophisticated [and] surprised a lot of Iran-watchers and analysts," he said. "You had effective coordination between unmanned drones and surface-to-surface cruise missiles on the part of Iran which was a pretty sophisticated capability. It doesn't surprise me these were falling on Iraq because with the militias that [Qasem] Soleimani until a few days ago commanded, they would have effective reconnaissance to be able to dial these missiles in."