Sanctions against Iran are "working beautifully" and European allies "better not be" still buying oil from the Middle Eastern country, White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said Thursday after Iran took credit for downing a U.S. drone.
"Iran is a rogue nation seeking to export nuclear weapons technology, radical Islam and terrorism not just to the Middle East but Europe and the rest of the world," Navarro, who took part in the construction of the sanctions, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"What we're trying to do here, and which is succeeding, is to cut off their export revenues," said Navarro. "They sell oil, they sell petrochemicals. They sell iron and steel. If we cut off the revenue they can't pay for the war. It is certainly working. It is working beautifully and we have to trust this president, President (Donald) Trump, to carry this policy."
If Europe is buying oil from Iran, they should be warned that the sanctions remain in full effect, said Navarro.
He added that he does not know the details about who could be buying oil from Iran, but it will come as a "strong cost to them."
"There is this tension where for economic reasons, our allies do things that aren't in the interests of both the United States and the rest of the world, with military expenditures for example," said Navarro. "Our national security umbrella is financed by U.S. taxpayers and countries around the world try to shirk those responsibilities even though they benefit from the national security umbrella."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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