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UN Ambassador Mike Waltz said he would not put a “timeline” on the Iran conflict ending — as he was pressed by NBC’s Kristen Welker in a tense Meet the Press showdown on Sunday.
Despite insisting the U.S. military “has conducted a phenomenally successful campaign,” Waltz refused to commit when pressed by Welker on whether the war would end in 2026.
“Mr. Ambassador, a lot of people are very interested in the timeline of this,” Welker said. “Because President Trump had initially said that this conflict would last for a matter of weeks, five to six weeks he said. We are now at the five month mark. Will this war be over by the new year?
Waltz initially ducked the question entirely.
“Well, first, this war has been going on for 47 years,” Waltz said. He added, “Of course, not necessarily this intensity. But at some level, Iran has been at war with the United States. I was just looking at old video under the Obama administration when they had sailors on their knees when they seized one of our boats and captured them. So look, we have to again take a step back. From a diplomatic standpoint, and of course I’m here as the UN ambassador, the talks with Lebanon are progressing in a way that’s historic. Syria is moving in the right direction. We just had the Iraqi foreign minister not only here in the Oval Office, but then he goes to Houston and signs new oil deals. Our Gulf Arabs have never been more aligned with us. Iran is diplomatically isolated, economically isolated, and militarily devastated. They’ve never been so weak. And we’re negotiating from a position of strength.”
But Welker pressed the issue.
“Do you anticipate this conflict will be concluded by the new year?” Welker asked again.
Waltz, though, would not commit.
“I’m not going to put some kind of timeline on it,” Waltz said. “The president has all options on the table. And he is exercising both diplomatic, economic, and military to achieve a very clear strategic aim. And that’s what different. The wars of my generation, we had policy drift. Here the president is very focused.”
The ambassador’s comments come at a time when new polling shows most Americans would like the conflict to come to a close. A CBS News poll out Sunday found 67 percent of Americans want an immediate end to the war.
Welker proceeded to asked Waltz, “Should the country brace for more American lives to be lost in this conflict, Mr. Ambassador?”
“Every man and woman who signs up, as I have and so many others, to go serve knows of that eventual possibility,” Waltz replied. “And my heart breaks for those families receiving the worst news of their life, as does the president all the way down the chain of command. Where I am thankful as a veteran is that we finally have a president who says, ‘Enough is enough.””
Watch above, via NBC.
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