Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday backed President Donald Trump's military campaign against Iran and said the administration should press ahead and "do it right and finish it" rather than settle for a partial outcome.
"I think you finish it," Haley said in an interview with CNBC.
"This is not Venezuela, where you extract [former leader Nicolas] Maduro. This is something where … 75% of the job is done. I think it's miraculous what our military has done," she added.
Haley said, "I think the decisions that have been made have been good, but if you're going to do it, do it right and finish it so that we never have to deal with the Iranian regime again."
Haley's comments came as the U.S.-led war with Iran moved into its fifth week after American and Israeli forces began strikes on Feb. 28 under what the administration has called Operation Epic Fury, following the collapse of nuclear diplomacy.
U.S. Central Command has said the campaign targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command facilities, air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields, while White House and Pentagon materials have described the goal as dismantling Tehran's ability to threaten the United States and its allies.
The administration has also said the operation has struck thousands of targets. Recent public updates from the Pentagon and outside reporting have described a widening regional conflict that has killed thousands and prompted new debate in Washington and among U.S. allies over whether the military push should continue or give way to a negotiated settlement.
Haley said one of the biggest complications has been the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that normally handles about 20% of global oil flows and has become a pressure point for the global economy during the war.
"The effects that they did not expect, or I think that have posed to be the challenge is, obviously, the Strait of Hormuz," Haley said.
"And what you don't want is for Iran to have a strong hold over that, and I think we're seeing the ramifications of that, is that we've got to make sure that that stays open and stop their mining capabilities in the process," she explained.
Energy markets have already been rattled by the fighting, with the conflict disrupting shipments through the strait, pushing Asian buyers to seek alternative supplies, and raising broader fears of inflation and supply shocks if the waterway remains constrained.
Haley also argued the United States should maintain pressure not only on Iran but on its broader adversaries, saying, "Iran is going in the right direction," while urging Washington and its allies to keep confronting Russia and China and to rally partners to "step in and finish this."
Her remarks underscored a divide among Republicans over how the war should end, with some Trump allies arguing the United States must capitalize on battlefield gains and others warning that a drawn-out conflict could deepen military, political, and economic costs at home and abroad.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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