Washington – National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday that “all options are always on the table” when asked if direct military action against Iran would be possible.
His comments occur after the United States launched air attacks on Saturday in parts of Yemen that are controlled by Houthis, a group backed by Iran that has attacked shipping ships in response to the war in Gaza.
“All options are always on the table with the president, but Iran needs to listen to him high and clear,” Waltz said in an interview about “this week” by ABC News. “It is completely unacceptable, and will stop, the level of support they have been providing to the hutis, as they have Hezbollah, as well as the militias in Iraq, Hamas and others.”
President Donald Trump announced the strikes on Saturday, saying in a publication to Truth Social that the hutis attacks “on US ships will not be tolerated.”
“We will use an overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our goal,” Trump added.
Trump also warned Iran in the same publication as his support for the hutis “must end immediately.” He told La Nación that “be careful” to threaten Americans and that “the United States will hold him completely and, we will not be pleasant about it!”
Air attacks in Yemen arrive when the Trump administration is also trying to end the war in Ukraine meeting with Russian and Ukrainian officials to determine a path to a possible fire.
Waltz said that diplomacy is ongoing, but indicated that it was not realistic to expect Ukraine to recover its entire territory assumed by Russia.
“We have to ask ourselves, is it of national interest, is it realistic?” Waltz said when asked about territory that Russia can be given despite the fact that Russia has launched the war invading Ukraine.
“Are we going to expel all the Russians of every centimeter of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?” He asked, arguing that the Biden administration strategy was “an endless war essentially in an environment that we are losing hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of months, and could increase to World War II.”
“We can talk about what is right and wrong, and we also have to talk about the reality of the situation on the ground,” Waltz said.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said in an interview about the “State of the Union” of CNN that his recent meeting with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was positive. “Witkoff has been active in the ongoing conversations about the future of Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff said in the same interview that he expects Trump and Putin to have a call at some point in this week.
During his presidential campaign, Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine in one day or even before being a jury.
During an “full measure” interview recorded last week with journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Trump said “he was being a bit sarcastic when I said that.”
