If asked to join an operation to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, former US Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill says he would be ready.

The distinguished veteran, renowned for his role in taking down Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden during a legendary US military operation, exclusively told the Daily Mail that he was ready for action, referencing a potential mission aimed at Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with the remark that his ‘boots still fit.’

The 49-year-old former soldier, however, cautioned enthusiastic politicians, commentators, and advocates of military action in light of President Donald Trump’s recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites over the past weekend.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, O’Neill praised Trump’s cautious approach towards Iran following the recent bombings, while also emphasizing the heavy toll America might face in the event of a broader conflict.

The Silver Star winner also cautioned that if special forces were on the ground, even to check the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites, the US could be dragged into a situation similar to Afghanistan.

‘He wants to end wars – not start another one,’ O’Neill, who hosts a podcast called The Operator and is a TV regular, said of Trump.

‘But there are factions (in the US) that do want war. And too many people have forgotten what war actually looks like.’

When it comes to killing the Ayatollah, O’Neill said it is all about ‘opportunity’ and considering the consequences, including the question of who would take power.

The decorated Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden in one of the most famous raids in US military history told the Daily Mail that his ‘boots still fit’ when asked about a potential mission targeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pictured: former US Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill

He believes it would be a stealth operation – with a drone or precision strike – rather than with an operation similar to the raid where the US took out Bin Laden.

And Trump has a bargaining chip up his sleeve when it comes to negotiations, according to O’Neill: Warning the Supreme Leader that U.S. and its allies know his exact location.

The president said on Friday that he saved Khamenei from a ‘very ugly and ignominious death’ by not letting American or Isareli armed forces ‘eliminate’ him.

O’Neill is best known for ending the 10-year manhunt for 9/11 mastermind and head of Al Qaeda in 2011, when he and members of SEAL Team Six stormed a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and O’Neill pulled the trigger.

The mission was the result of meticulous planning, weeks of training and grueling intelligence gathering throughout a decade-long CIA operation.

After B-2 bombers dropped the Massive Ordnance Penetrator ‘bunker busters’ last weekend, Trump said Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been ‘obliterated’.

The current debate in Washington and around the world is just how much of the Islamic Republic’s underground mountain labs have been damaged.

The CIA, Israeli intelligence and even Iran have backed up Trump’s claims that the facilities were badly damaged.

But there are concerns over a stockpile of uranium – believed to be enough to produce a nuclear weapon – that is supposedly missing.

There are also questions over how long it would take Iran to get to a point where they could restart their potentially deadly program.

Focus is also shifting to the rule of Ayatollah Khamenei and the oppressive regime that has been in power since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Khamenei has been in hiding in a bunker since the start of the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.

On Thursday he crawled out to make his first public statement on the bombing, warning the US would pay.

Trump has said he doesn’t back a regime change in Iran and is working to finalize a nuclear deal, with peace talks set for next week.

But O’Neill said the US strikes on Iran could just be the first step.

‘If you hit them, you don’t walk away; you finish the job. That means the regime is gone. That’s the cost. And nobody wants to talk about it because it’s not convenient.’

O’Neill has seen the consequences of war firsthand.

He served in more than 400 combat missions over 16 years, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, and took part in the rescue missions of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan.

Trump has insisted the ‘last thing’ he wants is boots on the ground in Iran.

But an Iranian response and uncertainty surrounding the aftermath of a strike could still prompt further involvement by the US military, especially if any ceasefire or deal is broken.

Reflecting on his younger self in the aftermath of 9/11, O’Neill admitted: ‘I was so pro-war I would have invaded any country.

‘But now, pushing 50, I’ve seen what war really does. I’m not anti-war, I’m just a thinker now. We should be serious about what it means.

‘I’m serious about war, because the veterans who went to Iraq and Afghanistan and saw their buddies blown in half are still dealing with the trauma now.’

He also warned of what happens when things go wrong. 

Power vacuums in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya following US interventions have allowed terrorist groups to thrive and opened the door to foreign adversaries, particularly China.

But the 49-year-old veteran (pictured) issued a stern warning to the politicians, pundits and war hawks eager for Donald Trump to launch a strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities or assassinate its top leader

In an interview with the Daily Mail, O’Neill (pictured) expressed support for President Trump’s decision to delay any military action for up to two weeks

And in the four years since the US withdrawal from Kabul, Al Qaeda has already seen a resurgence in Afghanistan under the Taliban government.

The long game, O’Neill said, isn’t being considered.

‘If you topple the regime and Iran, who’s going to take over? Are we going to install a US puppet, like we’ve done before, because we’ve been to Iran a couple of times,’ he said.

‘Do we just let ISIS take over, like what eventually happened in Iraq?’

Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled shortly after a US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003.

What followed was the rise to prominence of the jihadist group the Islamic State, and many of its top decision makers came from Hussein’s military or security service.

O’Neill suggested sleeper cells entered the US through its borders under President Joe Biden, and believes a strike on Iran could provoke retaliatory terrorist attacks on American soil.

‘At what point’, he asked, ‘does Iran activate the terrorists that came across the border?’

‘The terrorists only have to be right once. We’re vulnerable – schools, hospitals, malls. I don’t like to be a doomsday guy, but I’ve been right before, and sometimes it sucks.’

As a stark reminder, he said Iran had a hand in the Taliban making fake passports after Western forces left Afghanistan.

The potential global implications of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East have been mostly ignored, O’Neill said.

Russia has already warned Trump against direct involvement in Iran and China has offered to be a mediator between Israel and Iran in peace talks.

Several Boeing 747s have also reportedly been spotted on radar leaving China and heading for Iran in the last week, fueling speculation of assistance from Beijing.

‘Iran is the number one supplier of oil to China through the black market. So now China’s concerned because they’re not producing oil,’ O’Neill claimed.

He continued, adding that ‘People throw around “World War III” like it’s a movie title.

‘But nobody’s really allies. If a nuke goes off, even by accident, it sets off a chain of launches. The world as we know it ends.’

As for the ‘war hawks’ who pushed for the strikes, O’Neill has little patience.

‘When you hear someone called a war hawk, I guarantee they’ve never been to war. They don’t live with the trauma, the funerals or the families left behind.’

He was particularly critical of Senator Ted Cruz, who he said was ’embarrassed’ in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson due to his lack of basic knowledge about Iran and the Middle East.

‘Tucker destroyed him with facts,’ O’Neill said. ‘You can’t make war decisions without understanding the terrain, the players and the history. But that’s exactly what we keep doing.’

While Trump holds the cards, O’Neill says he needs to hear all the options going forward on any further military action – even from those who don’t back military action.

‘No one should be in a room where everyone agrees. That’s the downfall of any empire. Trump’s instincts are good, but the MAGA base shouldn’t support him unconditionally on this. They should ask, “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”‘

Trump said on Friday that Tehran has the materials and the ability to develop a warhead in a matter of weeks or months

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) has vowed to never surrender and has warned the US of ‘irreparable damage’ if it intervenes  

O’Neill is best known for ending the 10-year manhunt for 9/11 mastermind and head of Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden (pictured)

He also defended Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who has faced criticism over his lack of Pentagon experience. 

‘The Pentagon hasn’t won a war since World War II,’ he said. ‘Maybe we need a fresh perspective.’

Despite his restraint, O’Neill says he is still an ‘unapologetic American’ with years of experience in lethal special operations missions.

‘If they find the Ayatollah and they need someone,’ he said, ‘I’m just saying, the boots still fit.’