As Israel continues to consider how to respond to Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack nearly two weeks ago, former White House national security adviser John Bolton says it must seize what could be the “only chance” to eliminate the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
The Biden administration and other world leaders have urged Israel not to take any retaliatory measures that could escalate the conflict with Iran into all-out war — including striking Iranian nuclear facilities. But several conservative figures, including Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, said such strikes would be an appropriate response and could further weaken the Iranian regime.
In an interview with Mercedes Stevenson that aired on Sunday western bloc, Bolton, a longtime anti-Iran hawk who served in the Trump administration, said Israel should do everything it can to ensure the next Iranian attack does not include a nuclear warhead.
“If you are an Israeli, and in both the April attack from Iran and the October 1 attack you saw hundreds of ballistic missiles fired at you, you cannot be confident that the next time you see a ballistic missile coming from Iran,” he said. “It may not have a nuclear weapon under its nose.”
“So how long are you willing to take this chance?”
The Iranian attack on October 1 came after Israel escalated its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including killing the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior leaders. Hezbollah receives support from Iran, which also supports Hamas in Gaza and other proxies in the Middle East that oppose Israel.
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Bolton, echoing the views of other analysts in the region, said that Iran is “scared to death” of the Israeli government after its military actions against Hamas and Hezbollah, and knows that Israel will have the support of the United States in a direct war with Tehran.
This, combined with the regime’s internal conflicts, puts Iran in a weak position that Bolton says Israel must take advantage of.
“I think this is the point where Israel can have maximum impact, specifically by going after the nuclear weapons program,” he said.
“There’s no guarantee they’ll have another good chance.”
Last week, Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities “would be a gift from the Jewish state to humanity.”
Defense Secretary Bill Blair told the House of Commons Defense Committee on Thursday that it was “reckless and irresponsible to call for attacks on nuclear facilities, which are very specifically prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
Donald Trump, who is running for president again, said at a campaign event after the October 1 attack by Iran that Israel should “hit the nuclear program first and worry about the rest later.”
Although Iran issued an official fatwa prohibiting the development and use of nuclear weapons, The Minister of Intelligence warned This position could change if it is “backed into a corner,” and there are concerns within the international community that Iran may still be able to use its nuclear program to produce such a weapon relatively quickly.
Bolton was Trump’s national security adviser when Trump withdrew the United States from the international agreement with Iran that limited its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief, effectively eliminating the agreement. International assessments had indicated that Iran was committed to the agreement before its collapse, however It has since begun enriching uranium again.
Bolton, who has long criticized the Iran deal, told Stevenson that the agreement “gave a false sense of security” and that he believed Iran was now “very close” to developing a nuclear weapon.
“There is a lot about Iran’s program that we simply do not know,” he said.
Bolton said that the October 1 Iranian attack on Israel, which included between 180 and 200 ballistic missiles, was “the largest ballistic missile attack in the history of the world,” and that Israel’s primary interest in the short term would be to strengthen its air defense system to prevent Attacks. A similar large barrage in the future.
There has been little indication about what Israel might do next in response, which Bolton said suggests the Israeli government is not keeping the United States informed.
“They will make their decision about that,” he added.
He added that even if Israel abandons attacking nuclear sites and attacks Iranian military or oil production facilities instead, the response could have implications for the presidential elections in November.
He said: “(US President Joe Biden) simply wants to postpone any Israeli action until after November 5.”
“I don’t think this will happen, because Israel has an urgent need now.”
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