US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran, saying Trump had done “something no other president has been willing to do,” which he described as taking “the fight to them.”
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax, Huckabee said Trump’s pressure campaign went beyond military action. “Not only has he done that militarily, he’s certainly bombed them, but he’s also taken steps to bankrupt them,” he said, arguing that Trump was working to “decimat[e] them economically” after striking Iran militarily.
Huckabee also warned Americans against seeing the confrontation with Tehran as a distant or Israel-centered conflict. “Iran’s threat is not to Israel, it is to America,” he said, urging the public not to view the issue through the lens of fatigue.
“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,” Huckabee added. “So this president, thank God, is finally saying enough of this.”
Houthi attacks wound 73 in Saudi Arabia
The comments came as a fresh round of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi terror group injured 73 people in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and sparked fires at oil facilities, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said, according to the Associated Press.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, the coalition’s spokesman, said the strikes targeted “civilian and economic facilities” in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait. Women and children were among those wounded, he said.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said fires erupted at several oil facilities and utility sites in the kingdom’s southern region, forcing operations to be temporarily halted. Fire crews were still working to bring the blazes under control Tuesday morning.
Al-Malki condemned the attacks as a “serious escalation” and a “flagrant violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty,” calling them a direct threat to the security and safety of Saudi citizens and residents.
The coalition “will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia with utmost resolve,” he added.
CENTCOM: 94 vessels redirected under Iran blockade
American forces have redirected 94 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two as part of Washington’s maritime 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.”
Grossi: IAEA access would have ‘positive repercussions’ for Iran
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.
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.
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.
Pezeshkian: Iran will resist ‘with full force’
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 parliament official tells US to leave region, warns of military capabilities
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.
