Retired Gen. David Petraeus, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and CIA Director, told FNC’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” that the Iranians made a serious mistake by targeting civilian targets in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and cannot rely on help from Russia or China.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS: Joining me now is four-star General and former commander of U.S. Central Command, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003 as well as in Afghanistan, former CIA director, and currently head of Mideast operations for KKR – General David Howell Petraeus. General, thank you very much for being here this morning. Let me kick it off with the tragic news of three U.S. service members killed, five others wounded. Your reaction? GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, the president warned of this, I think, Maria – rightly so – that in this kind of operation that possibility always exists, and tragically it has manifested itself. Of course, this operation was a military campaign, including an important intelligence campaign. BARTIROMO: What is your reaction to the United States-led campaign and taking down Ali Khomeini? PETRAEUS: Well, this is both an extraordinary military achievement by the Israelis and the Americans – of course, hundreds of planes on each side and then also hundreds of cruise missiles coming out of various ships. So a really massive effort. You used that word, and it is exactly correct. Clearly, a lot of this was led by intelligence – precise intelligence – and a degree of stunning arrogance on the part of the Iranians who, I assume, said, Well, gee, they didn’t attack when they normally do in the early hours of the morning, so we have today – we can get together and meet. That’s how the intelligence developed that enabled the killing of the Supreme Leader and some dozens of others meeting with him, and then a number of other leaders of the various security forces of Iran. Then also going after any of the remaining air and ballistic missile defenses, then the retaliatory means – the most significant of which are the longer-range missiles – and over time I’m sure going to continue to go after other elements of the security forces, their headquarters, and the shorter-range retaliatory measures as well, which can hit the bases in the Gulf and actually have hit. I think a really foolish move by the Iranians was to hit the Arab countries in the Gulf, who really had wanted to stay out of this but now are in it because of strikes against civilian targets in their countries – the Gulf states. Their aircraft are already flying as part of the overall defensive effort, and we’ll see if there is a decision about us using their bases again, which they had initially denied because they wanted to stay on the sidelines. BARTIROMO: And how significant would that be in terms of the U.S. using the bases of our allies in the Middle East? It’s an extraordinary issue – the fact that the Iranians pushed back by striking other allies in the Middle East. PETRAEUS: Essentially, what we’ve had to do is fly off carriers – one in the eastern Mediterranean, one in the Arabian Sea off the southern coast of Pakistan – and also out of Jordan and even some European bases. That’s what’s been necessary. I don’t know now, in the middle of this campaign, if we feel comfortable going into these bases – whether we have what’s called the beddown, the munitions and fuel ready to go – but that could present an option. I think the focus right now is still on the Iranian retaliatory capabilities. One of those is what they might do to mine the Strait of Hormuz or otherwise interfere with freedom of navigation from the Gulf. Keep in mind that about 20% of the world’s crude oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz daily, and roughly 20% of the liquefied natural gas as well. So that would be very significant. I’m sure there will be a spike in the price of Brent crude as markets open, and likely for LNG as well. There was a ship attacked just north of the tip of Oman, just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Maersk, for example, said it will stop transiting that strait and also the other strait that has been interdicted by the Houthis that leads to the Suez Canal. There will be quite a focus on that, I’m sure – and still absolutely going after any way they can respond, including whatever it was that killed our three soldiers and seriously wounded the others. I’m sure that will be a focus as well. BARTIROMO: I’d like to get your take on Iran’s capability at this point, but I also want to talk about what you just mentioned – the Strait of Hormuz – which opens up the conversation to China. We’ve talked about China before – the U.S.’s number one adversary here – and no doubt focused squarely on the continuation of a regular flow of oil to China. What’s your take on Iran’s capability, and then broaden out the conversation for us on China? PETRAEUS: Iran still clearly has quite a capability. Keep in mind that it’s not just the longer-range missiles that can hit Israel – and of course there was that terrible incident just reported a few hours ago. During the 12-day air campaign, despite all of the comprehensive air and ballistic missile defenses of the entire region – because they’re integrated – still 5 to 7% of the missiles got through. So there is going to be that kind of tragedy from time to time. When you come to the shorter-range missiles, there’s quite a large number of those as well, but I’m sure that is absolutely a focus of Israeli and U.S. actions. When it comes to China, China’s in a difficult position. They have a kinship with Iran, but they’re also dependent on oil that comes out of the strait. So I think they have to be very careful. They’ve tried to achieve a balanced relationship with those on the west side of the Gulf and with Iran on the east side. I think they’re really just going to stay on the sidelines. When it comes to Russia, they don’t have anything to spare for Iran. In fact, their S-300 air and ballistic missile defense system that they had before the 12-Day War was taken down by Israeli F-35s. So that’s where you are with Iran’s supporters and the potential impact on global energy markets – noting that I don’t think this would be enduring even if the strait is mined. That can generally be cleared within a few weeks, depending on assets available. Needless to say, mine-sweeping ships – and whether the UK goes in on this as well – will be part of that. The UK is flying defensively, according to the Prime Minister yesterday. BARTIROMO: Yes, thank you for mentioning the UK – great point there. But in talking about the reaction from China, you also have to mention the bold operation the president undertook in Venezuela as well as a further tactic here when looking at the broader campaign. What are next steps? How do you think this government in Iran is formed? You’ve got all different elements – perhaps a secular government, Shia, Sunni, Persian leadership. What role do you expect leadership to take, and how does that look in Iran post-Khomeini? PETRAEUS: In this case, there is an interim council that has been announced. It’s headed by the president, a member of the Assembly of Experts, and another national security figure. We’re not sure if they have even met. I’m sure they are staying away from electronic devices, very deeply underground. We’ll see if that can step in and provide some degree of leadership, noting that probably all of these military elements had target decks already provided and the authority to engage. The real question is whether the Assembly of Experts can convene rapidly – in effect a conclave – to choose the next Supreme Leader. Can that even happen during this intense campaign? Might there be splintering in the security forces? The president mentioned in a social media post yesterday that numbers of security force elements want to lay down their weapons and receive immunity. Could someone lead that group and lead the population sufficiently to take down a regime that probably still has around a million forces it can turn out on the streets – heavily armed and willing to shoot and kill its own people, as demonstrated in demonstrations months ago? The real question is whether there could be an alternative to this very hardline ideological clerical regime. Could some other leader step up and rally the people and disaffected elements of the regime? I’m not sure that’s the base case.

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