According to a report by Fox News from 2:30, on Thursday April 30, 2026, In a pointed assessment of the escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, Retired Vice Admiral Mark Fox characterized the current military and economic pressure on Iran as a generational opportunity to finally conclude a conflict that has simmered for nearly half a century.
Speaking on Fox News, the former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command argued that while the United States may have historically viewed the relationship through a lens of containment, the Iranian regime has long considered itself in an active state of war against American interests.
Admiral Fox highlighted a series of historical provocations to illustrate the depth of the hostility, spanning from the 1979 revolution to modern-day insurgencies.
“The best way to look at this is in the context of the fact that the Iranians have been at war with us since 1979,” Fox stated. “We did not necessarily feel like we were at war with the Iranians but the Iranians were definitely at war with us.”
He cited specific events where American lives were lost or compromised by Iranian-backed actions, including the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
“They blew up the marine barracks and captured our embassy. They held Americans hostage. They blew up towers,” Fox noted, referring to a history of regional terror.
Perhaps most significantly, Fox pointed to the sophisticated weaponry supplied by Iran to insurgents during the Iraq War, specifically explosively formed penetrators (EFPs).
These highly specialized roadside bombs were designed to pierce heavy armor and were responsible for a significant portion of U.S. casualties.
“Explosively formed penetrators in Iraq. Those were not improvise, they were highly machined so close to 1000 Americans have died at the hands of the Iranians,” Fox said, emphasizing the deliberate nature of the attacks…Read_More…