Failing to dismantle the Iranian regime’s nuclear infrastructure would “haunt” the global community in the future, David Wurmser, former senior adviser to U.S. Vice President Cheney and senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JNS on Monday.
“Iran has become a major strategic asset for axes of evil, whether it is the Chinese belt and road or the Russian structures. However you want to look at those conflicts, Iran has become a major part,” said Wurmser.
“Israel is handing everybody this chance to remove this threat once and for all, for decades and generations, and yet there is this impulse to go the easier road and accept something that will leave the problem to arise in two or three years—and it will rearise,” Wurmser continued.
“Iran cheats and it is good at cheating and it will always cheat. We will face them in five years. Iran will eventually turn, cheat and eliminate restrictions it has, whether it’s in three, five, or 10 years,” he added.
Wurmser on Monday participated in a Misgav Institute briefing alongside Gilad Erdan, former Israeli ambassador to the United States and United Nations and current director of the Misgav Institute Center for Diplomacy, and former deputy national security adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump Victoria Coates, who is now vice president at The Heritage Foundation.
The discussion focused on the next steps for Israel, Iran and the United States in the ongoing conflict. The webinar was moderated by Lahav Harkov, senior political correspondent at Jewish Insider and senior fellow at the Misgav Institute.
Wurmser told JNS that he viewed positively Israel’s decision to act alone when conducting preemptive strikes on Iran in the pre-dawn hours of June 13.
“We don’t have fully aligned interests on this, that said, this is a moment in which we have an ability to solve the problem and create fundamental strategic reorientation that can last for decades. If there was one lesson that came out of Oct. 7, it is to not manage problems but solve them and make sure those problems never happen again,” he said, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“That could only be done in Gaza by destroying Hamas. Any deal with Hamas that leaves them in power means that there would be another Oct. 7 somewhere in the future. The same thing on a larger scale strategically applies to Iran,” said Wurmser.
He warned that the Middle East stands at a critical crossroads—facing either a major strategic breakthrough or a slide into prolonged conflict—and argued that only a decisive effort to remove the Iranian regime, which has destabilized the region for decades, can prevent a future of endless war.
“If we don’t solve the problem now, America will be bogged down into endless wars in the region, because Iran will start them,” Wurmser added.
On June 13, more than 200 Israeli fighter jets launched “Operation Rising Lion,” a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program, targeting dozens of enemy sites, including military and nuclear facilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the operation would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat… to Israel’s very survival.”
In response to the Israeli strikes, Iran has launched around 350 ballistic missiles at cities across Israel, according to military estimates. At least 24 people have been killed in the attacks—three on Friday, 13 overnight Saturday and eight early on Monday. Hundreds have been wounded.
Ambassador Erdan emphasized during the briefing on Monday the importance of achieving regime change in Iran to secure peace and stability in the region.
“Even if we delay their program and destroy most ballistic missiles, they will continue and try to accomplish their vision,” he said.
Discussing whether the international community could apply pressure to prevent Israel from completing its mission in Iran, Erdan noted that such pressure typically relates to the Palestinians.
“When it comes to the Iranian regime, I think a long time ago they lost their popularity, but if we look at what happened in the last few years, Iran has truly proven itself as an ally against civilization,” said Erdan.
“They supplied attack drones to murder Ukrainian civilians, they helped [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, they attacked the cybersecurity infrastructure in Albania, and they supplied the Houthis with intelligence and missiles to endanger maritime trade. I think that many countries realize that Iran poses a threat to them as well,” he continued.
“I am sure [Israel] did not get any red line from [President Trump], and I am sure that it was coordinated with him, because it was after the 60-day deadline that he had set for negotiations. He can use it now as leverage for future talks, but honestly, I don’t see the Iranians willing to give up uranium enrichment on their soil, so I predict that American backing will continue,” Erdan added.
For her part, Coates reiterated that nobody wants to see Iran go nuclear and emphasized that support for Israel in the United States remains steadfast.
“There is no significant conservative opposition to Israel,” she said. “The other good news is that while the majority of Democrats are in the wrong place on this in Congress, there are enough in the right place that we can maintain a majority,” she added.
“The president has been clear that he does not want Iran to get nuclear weapons, and he will take strong action to prevent that from happening,” she continued.
“He dispatched another aircraft carrier to the region, which is a pretty major signal. My understanding from Tampa is that military coordination is going well, and we are adapting to what the Iranians are doing in terms of targeting civilians rather than isolating their fire to military or strategic targets. My understanding is that it’s going well with the full support of [the Department of Defense],” she continued.
“I think the support will be ongoing. The president’s inclination is to get to a diplomatic solution, and he also had strong words for the Iranian people… The Iranian people are going to want to take their country back,” she added.