What To Know
- Scott Jennings claimed the U.S. has won the war against Iran because the Iranian “army is decimated.”
- Jennings argued that Iran has failed to achieve its objectives, such as building a nuclear weapon or controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
- The CNN commentator is reportedly the frontrunner to become White House press secretary.
CNN’s Scott Jennings has insisted that President Donald Trump and the United States have won the war with Iran because the Iranian “army is decimated.”
The conservative commentator made the declaration on Monday’s (August 24) edition of his radio program, The Scott Jennings Show, in an episode titled “U.S. has won the war against Iran.”
Jennings told his listeners that “many in our political class refuse to acknowledge the United States has won the war against Iran,” per Mediaite. “Wars are won when one side achieves its strategic objectives, and the other loses the ability to achieve its own.”
The CNN NewsNight panelist claimed, “Iran entered this war with four great pillars of strength — its nuclear program, its missiles and drones, its regional terror network, and its ability to hold the world economy hostage through the Strait of Hormuz. Every one of those pillars has been severely damaged or outright destroyed.”
Referencing recent comments by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who alleged Trump “lost” the war, Jennings said, “The Democratic Party, it seems, is unified in its desire for the American people to believe that we have lost this war. Even though it’s clear the opposite is true.”
Jennings argued, “Has Iran built a nuclear weapon? No, and they couldn’t build one for decades based on the destruction wrought by the United States and Israel. Has Iran defeated the United States military? No. Quite the opposite. The navy is fully sunk. The army is decimated.”
“Has it driven the United States Navy out of the Strait of Hormuz? No. Our ships travel at will,” he continued. “Is Iran able to stop oil from moving in and out of the strait? No. In fact, millions of barrels of oil are transiting the Strait of Hormuz every day. More and more every day, in fact.”
Jennings’ claims have been disputed elsewhere, including an early August report from the New York Times about Iran’s nuclear program. The outlet found that the country’s nuclear capabilities had been damaged but not destroyed, with experts saying Tehran retained enough enriched uranium to potentially produce multiple nuclear weapons.
And despite Trump claiming that the U.S. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran continues to say the shipping channel is closed. With peace talks coming to a halt, shipping through the waterway plunged to single digits on Thursday (August 20), according to Kpler data.
Before the war began in late February, between 130 and 140 vessels and 15 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait every day. This number dropped to 2.3 million barrels per day when a ceasefire was signed in June, though those numbers rose to 6.1 million before the deal expired last week, according to Al Jazeera.
Jennings has been in the headlines recently after The Daily Beast reported he was the frontrunner to take over from Karoline Leavitt as Trump’s new White House press secretary. The MAGA mouthpiece has not directly answered whether he would be interested in the position, though he hasn’t outright denied it either.