Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said on Newsmax on Tuesday that President Donald Trump decided to strike Iran because Tehran was on the verge of producing multiple nuclear weapons and could soon have mounted them on missiles already targeting cities across the Middle East.
In an interview with Newsmax’s “National Report” discussing the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury, Leiter described what he said was an imminent threat from Iran’s weapons-grade uranium program.
“We see missiles, Iranian missiles hitting all the cities in the Middle East now, not just Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates, Bahrain,” Leiter said.
“Now imagine that those missiles hitting Dubai’s airport or a hotel in Abu Dhabi. Imagine they had nuclear weapons on them. They were tipped with nuclear weapons,” he added. “Imagine the damage. Imagine the killing. Imagine the mayhem.”
Leiter cited remarks by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, claiming Iranian officials had acknowledged how close they were to building multiple bombs.
“Now we heard Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, say last night, very clearly, the Iranians actually told him point-blank, ‘We’re a week away from 11 bombs,'” Leiter said.
Addressing questions about why the operation was launched now, Leiter said President Donald Trump concluded the window to act was closing.
“When people are asking now, why is it imminent? Why now? We can always ask, you know, why now? But when you’re dealing with a terrorist state, you seize the opportunity,” Leiter said.
“And that’s what President Trump saw, that we could not wait any longer, that sooner or later, very soon, or then later, these missile capabilities would be tipped with nuclear warheads and the world would be held hostage to a regime that is apocalyptic and really, frankly, crazy,” he added.
U.S. officials have said the campaign is designed to degrade Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, amid longstanding concerns from Washington and Jerusalem that Tehran has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels in violation of international agreements.
Leiter rejected comparisons to prolonged U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, expressing confidence the current campaign would not become an open-ended war.
“We’re very confident. We know the Middle East. We know our neighbors. We know the potential that the Iranian people have,” he said. “Remember, this is a regime that represents a small minority of the Iranian people, maybe 20%, 80% of the Iranian people are opposed to this regime.”
He added, “Once this government cracks and the edifice, the security edifice cracks, and we’re seeing the cracks already. I mean, look, we took out … 40 members of the leadership, and they’re having a big problem now, getting orders from the command centers down to the field.”
Leiter also rejected a New York Times report suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed President Donald Trump into a broader war.
“The New York Times has been the biggest purveyor of nonsense ever since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7,” Leiter said.
“How disrespectful to the president of the United States of America,” he added. “On the one hand, he’s not asking anybody permission. He’s doing it himself. On the other hand, he’s being schlepped along, dragged along by the prime minister of Israel. President Trump is not exactly someone to be dragged along.”
Leiter said Trump made a strategic decision to confront what he called “the largest sponsor of terror for the past 47 years.”
“There’s a certain point, as he said himself in his initial address to the nation, there’s a certain point where enough is enough,” Leiter said, arguing that removing Iran as a regional threat could pave the way for greater Middle East stability and broader U.S. strategic flexibility.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
