James Pennell, a retired US Army officer, warns that recent American strikes on Iran are only a 'whisper' of what may follow if Tehran persists in attacking oil tankers with suicide drones, in violation of the June 17 US-Iran MOU. Pennell assesses that Iran can be neutralized through air superiority alone and that frozen Iranian assets worth tens of billions are the real leverage against Tehran.
James Pennell, a retired US Army officer, told NTD that the June 17 US-Iran memorandum of understanding was violated when Iran attacked two oil tankers over the weekend using suicide drones. Pennell argues that Washington has already struck twice in response, but those strikes are only a "whisper" of a potential harsher response if Iran continues.
According to Pennell, Iran's ability to control the Strait of Hormuz can be neutralized through air superiority alone — without ground forces — by targeting Iran's positions on Jazireh-ye Qeshm and near Bandar Abbas. But he assesses that the most powerful leverage on Iran is economic: tens of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, which he says is the very reason Tehran signed the MOU in the first place.
The MOU, signed on June 17, committed Washington to lifting the blockade within 30 days (a step it took immediately), while Tehran was to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to free navigation. Iran's continued attacks on tankers, Pennell argues, represent a clear violation of the agreement's Article 4.
As The Zioneer has reported over the past weeks, the US-Iran confrontation has escalated significantly — from CENTCOM strikes and Iranian retaliation, to Trump administration warnings of "violent assaults" on Iranian infrastructure, and repeated threats of harsher action if negotiations do not produce results. The frozen assets remain a central point of contention: Iran has demanded immediate release of billions as a precondition for any deal.
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