- Utah Rep. Blake Moore said the U.S. didn't fully anticipate the major disruptions from the war in Iran.
- Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has significantly impacted global oil shipping.
- Moore criticized Democrats for not funding Homeland Security amid ongoing government shutdown.
SALT LAKE CITY — After more than three weeks of war against Iran, Utah Rep. Blake Moore said the U.S. has accomplished several objectives but did not fully anticipate the disruptions to global shipping the conflict would spark.
"Tactically, obviously, we've had a lot of successes in some of the objectives of debilitating their missile capability and the (Iranian) navy, and you're hearing about ... hopeful discussions about keeping advancement of nuclear weaponry away from the Iranian regime," the Republican congressman told KSL Wednesday. "I don't believe we anticipated correctly on how long it would take or what kind of disruptions that their drone capabilities were. And the Strait of Hormuz — this has been a major disruption."
Moore was referring to the narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas are shipped. Iran has effectively closed shipping traffic through the strait, cutting off supply and driving fuel prices up.
President Donald Trump on Thursday extended the deadline for Iran to open the strait by 10 days, saying the U.S. would hold off on bombing Iran's energy plants. The announcement came after a senior Iranian official said a U.S. proposal for ending the war was "one-side and unfair."
Moore said the U.S. needs to find a solution.
"There's a lot of successful pieces of the objectives, and then there's definitely fallout that needs to be addressed," he said.
The congressman also called on Democrats to agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security, calling the ongoing shutdown of the department "complete nonsense."
"It's ridiculous," Moore said. "And this hypocrisy that I'm seeing from Democrats on this government funding stuff — it's all I heard from my first four years was how dangerous it is to shut the government down, and then it's all they've done in the last nine months. It's pretty, very disappointing."
Funding for the department lapsed last month as Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection without changes following the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Moore said those shootings were "tragic," but changes have been made since then, including replacing former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
"Nobody likes the way Minnesota transpired. Those events were tragic," Moore said. "There's been changes made since then. I don't understand why Democrats can't take a win."
