Mike Huckabee has publicly defended Donald Trump’s dual-track strategy against Iran.
The US Ambassador to Israel, 69, told Newsmax in a Monday interview that the president has taken “the fight to them” in ways no predecessor would. Huckabee pointed to military strikes alongside economic warfare as complementary tools, saying Trump is “decimating them economically” after hitting them militarily.
“Not only has he done that militarily, he’s certainly bombed them, but he’s also taken steps to bankrupt them,” Huckabee said during the broadcast. “Iran’s threat is not to Israel, it is to America.”
Huckabee urged Americans to resist viewing the confrontation through a lens of fatigue, noting that Iranian hostility toward the United States has persisted for decades. “They’ve been saying it for 47 and a half years. We need to wake up and understand that they’ve always targeted the Red, White and Blue,” he continued. “So this president, thank God, is finally saying enough of this.”
The ambassador’s remarks came as tensions across the region showed fresh signs of escalation. A wave of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi terror group wounded 73 people in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and set fires at oil facilities, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the coalition, said the strikes hit “civilian and economic facilities” in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait. The wounded included women and children.
Fires broke out at several oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region, the Saudi Energy Ministry said. Operations there were temporarily suspended, and firefighters were still battling the blazes on Tuesday morning. Al-Malki called the attacks a “serious escalation” and a “flagrant violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty, and a direct threat to the security and safety of its citizens and residents.” The coalition “will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia with utmost resolve,” he added.
The maritime dimension of Washington’s pressure campaign also intensified this week. American forces have redirected 94 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two as part of the blockade of Iranian ports, US Central Command forces said on Monday. The figure was up from 92 redirected vessels as of Sunday, CENTCOM’s previous tally. The number disabled and the number boarded were unchanged. CENTCOM said the operations were meant to ensure “complete compliance with the blockade.”
Iranian officials pushed back with defiant rhetoric. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that Tehran would continue resisting “with full force until the aggressors are brought to complete regret,” while maintaining that the Islamic Republic opposes war. Iranian state media outlet ISNA said Pezeshkian was responding to recent remarks by Trump, who has threatened further strikes on Iran if Tehran continues its attacks.
Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Ali Nikzad, urged US officials on Tuesday to leave the region “as soon as possible,” according to the state-run ISNA outlet, while claiming that recent Iranian attacks showed only “a glimpse” of the regime’s military capabilities. The remarks came a day after acting Iranian Defense Minister Majid Ebn al-Reza said Tehran has the capability to strike US warships involved in enforcing Trump’s economic pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic.
The nuclear file added another layer of urgency. International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said on Monday that Iran granting the nuclear watchdog access to key facilities would have “positive repercussions” for the Islamic Republic, AFP reported. “The best, shortest way for a positive outcome is for Iran to engage with us,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna, where he addressed the quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.
In a post on X, Grossi said his agency “has neither received information on the status of declared nuclear material or facilities nor had access to conduct in-field verification activities during this reporting period.” A return to diplomacy with Iran is “imperative,” Grossi wrote, describing it as the only way to obtain long-term assurance that the regime will not acquire nuclear weapons.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany have agreed on a resolution referring Tehran to the UN Security Council over its refusal to comply with nuclear reporting obligations. It is expected to be submitted and voted on this week, according to a draft seen by AFP. Asked about the possible referral, Grossi told AFP his “job with Iran continues, irrespective of the resolution,” He added that dialogue and renewed access would lead to “very, very positive repercussions” for the Tehran regime.
The IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna is expected to continue through this week.