Sen. Rounds to Newsmax: Peace Possible if US Can 'Neutralize' Iran

Sen. Mike Rounds said Sunday that neutralizing Iran's nuclear ambitions would mark "a major step forward" for peace in the Middle East and let the U.S. refocus its military priorities worldwide.

"If Iran is neutralized, if we turn them into a nation that actually is looking at at a future without nuclear weapons and without ballistic missiles that threaten their neighbors, the Middle East can become more peaceful," the South Dakota Republican told Newsmax's Greta Van Susteren during special coverage on the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

"It also changes the outlook for the rest of the world," he said.

Rounds, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said eliminating the threat posed by Iran would also allow America to realign its defensive and offensive capabilities.

"We want to be in a position where we know where the threats are to the United States," he said. "If we can eliminate this particular threat and bring peace back into that region, this is a major step forward."

President Donald Trump, Rounds added, understands that.

"He talked about North America and the defense for North America and not forgetting about our own country," he said.

Trump is "starting now to work our way down the line of identifying those threats that clearly have been there and that have not been addressed."

Asked whether senators had been briefed on the operation, Rounds said there had not been a specific briefing on the action itself but noted lawmakers on key committees have monitored Iran's activities for more than a year.

"Those of us that are on the Armed Services Committee and on the Intel Committee, we've been following this for literally more than a year in terms of what has been going on with their nuclear activities, their continued development of their ballistic missiles, the number that they've had available, the fact that they have been rebuilding the resources," he said.

Rounds said recent strikes targeted facilities but left concerns about nuclear materials buried underground.

He added that diplomatic efforts had been exhausted.

"It was just a matter of how long we could go with trying to have diplomatic approaches to end this threat. And very clearly, they did not have an interest in doing that," Rounds said.

Comparing the situation to the U.S.-backed operation in Venezuela, Rounds said the circumstances in Iran are different because they involve the potential collapse of a regime's top leadership.

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime has lost its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a bombing Saturday.

The Iranian people now have the opportunity to decide the nation's future, Rounds said.

"It's up to them to decide, and then we'll respond based upon what the Iranian response is to having this loss of authority for this evil dictatorship," he noted.

Iran had multiple opportunities to curb its nuclear program during direct talks with the U.S., Rounds said.

"It's not like President Trump didn't warn them, and they had seven or eight direct meetings between the United States and Iran. They didn't take the opportunity to get rid of the nuclear weapons," he said.

"President Trump, he means what he says, and when the clock is up, and he's had enough and the time is apparently the right time, he acts."

Rounds added that the message has been clear to Iran and the rest of the world.

"He doesn't just draw red lines and not do anything," he said.

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