Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is urging the Trump administration to ensure Iran can no longer threaten the United States or its allies, applauding the recent military campaign that killed Iran’s supreme leader.
Speaking Wednesday on Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News, Rice praised Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli strike that resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and said Washington should make sure Tehran cannot rebuild its military threat.
“Iran has been at war with us for at least 47 years,” Rice said during the appearance. “If you ask people about Iraq, what was the source of many of our casualties in Iraq, you’ll get estimates as high as 75 or 80% of them were due to Iranian-made roadside bombs.”
Rice, 71, said the purpose of the current operations should be to cripple the Iranian regime’s ability to respond militarily.
“If you can render Iran essentially incapable of military action against us and against our allies, that’s worthy, and I think what they’re trying to do is to neuter Iran as a military power in the region,” she said.
Rice, who served as the top U.S. diplomat during the second term of George W. Bush, also pointed to Iran’s network of militant groups operating throughout the Middle East.
“They also have developed the military capability to reach outside the boundaries of Iran, including Hezbollah and Hamas, which they both arm and equip,” Rice said.
She pushed back on claims that Tehran has not posed a long-standing danger to the United States. “To say that this regime was not a threat … it’s ahistorical,” Rice said. “They have been a threat for a long time.”
Rice cited the Iran Hostage Crisis and the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 U.S. service members, as examples of Iranian-backed attacks against Americans.
“I myself negotiated four Security Council resolutions, calling them a threat to international peace and security,” Rice said. “Because of their nuclear ambitions.”
Prior to last weekend’s coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes, Washington had been engaged in talks with Tehran, which has insisted it holds an “inalienable right” to enrich uranium.
“Iran demonstrated that it probably wasn’t possible to deter their tentacles-like Hamas. I’m quite certain that October 7 with Hamas couldn’t have happened without Iranian training and equipment and even maybe planning,” Rice said.
“The administration decided, along with the Israelis, to try and at least degrade and maybe even seriously set back Iranian nuclear capabilities.” Rice argued that Iran was left vulnerable following those strikes and said the United States moved quickly to capitalize on the moment before Tehran could retaliate or rearm its regional allies.
“I see it as a series of decisions and worthy goal. Of course, we’ll have to watch and see, but I do think taking care of Iranian military and nuclear capabilities is very important,” she said.