Ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges Trump admin to ‘take care’ of Iran for good: ‘Render them incapable’
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged President Trump to “take care of Iran for good,” praising the bold military action — Operation Epic Fury — that resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Iran has been at war with us for at least 47 years,” Rice said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Special Report” on Wednesday. “If you ask people about Iraq, what was the source of many of our casualties in Iraq, you’ll get estimates as high as 75 or 80% of them were due to Iranian-made roadside bombs.”
Rice, 71, argued the main objective of the attacks was to immobilize the tyrannical Iranian regime before it could counterattack.
Rice served under President George W. Bush during 9/11 and the Iraq War. Fox News
“If you can render Iran essentially incapable of military action against us and against our allies, that’s worthy, and I think what they’re trying to do is to neuter Iran as a military power in the region,” she said.
Rice, the former chief diplomat during George W. Bush’s second term, pointed out that the Iranian regime has built up forces in surrounding Middle Eastern countries working as terror proxies for Tehran.
“They also have developed the military capability to reach outside the boundaries of Iran, including Hezbollah and Hamas, which they both arm and equip,” Rice said.
“To say that this regime was not a threat … it’s ahistorical,” Rice said. “They have been a threat for a long time.”
A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital, Tehran, on March 3, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
Follow live updates on the US and Israel’s war with Iran
The former national security adviser referenced the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis and the 1983 Beirut suicide bombing that killed 241 American service members as two examples of Iranian-led terror against the US.
“I myself negotiated four Security Council resolutions, calling them a threat to international peace and security,” Rice said. “Because of their nuclear ambitions.”
Before the US and Israel launched the joint military operations in Iran last Saturday, American officials were in negotiations with Iran despite the rogue nation’s insistence it has an “inalienable right” to enrich uranium.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:
Trump had demanded that Tehran completely abandon nuclear enrichment, but US negotiators were rebuffed in Geneva as America built up its military presence in the Middle East.
Since Saturday, Iran has launched retaliatory strikes at Israeli and US targets across the Middle East that have killed six American service members — military action that Rice considered a “blunder” for attacking neighboring Gulf states.
Rice dismissed reports that the US had been arming rebel fighters in Iraq to launch ground offensives against the Iranian regime.
President Trump oversaw “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The White House/AFP via Getty Images
“The one thing I don’t know is the nature of the reports hearing about Kurdish incursions into Iranian territory and we ought to be circumspect about judgments and what that really means in terms of Kurdish activity,” she said. “It does speak to the complicated demographics of Iran and we have to keep that in mind.”
Rice noted that minorities, including various ethnic groups in the nation, have been suppressed and badly treated by Tehran.
“We do have to be aware that Iran is not a homogeneous population, it’s also a population of over 90 million people on territory that’s twice the size of Texas. So it’s gonna be a complicated set of circumstances,” she added.
Describing it as a “series of events,” Rice said American military action against Iran dated back to Oct. 7, 2023, when Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, in devastating attacks in southern Israel.
“Iran demonstrated that it probably wasn’t possible to deter their tentacles-like Hamas. I’m quite certain that October 7 with Hamas couldn’t have happened without Iranian training and equipment and even maybe planning,” Rice said.
Leading up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the US struck several nuclear facilities across Iran during Operation Midnight Hammer in June.
“The administration decided, along with the Israelis, to try and at least degrade and maybe even seriously set back Iranian nuclear capabilities.”
Rice claimed Iran was defenseless and the US jumped on the timing to “render them incapable” before they could strike back or rearm Hamas and Hezbollah.
“I see it as a series of decisions and worthy goal. Of course, we’ll have to watch and see, but I do think taking care of Iranian military and nuclear capabilities is very important,” she said.
With Post wires
