U.S. military "assets and resources are being assembled" as Iran faces mounting pressure to abandon its nuclear program, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Newsmax on Thursday.
And President Donald Trump is "not bluffing" about taking action if Tehran does not comply.
"There's either going to be some type of significant action, or it's going to be that Iran finally decides that Donald Trump isn't kidding and they take the president at his word and they give up their nuclear aspirations," Huckabee said on "American Agenda."
Huckabee said he prefers a diplomatic outcome, but he warned that Iran's window to comply is narrowing.
"Let's hope that's what they do," he said. "I assure you, as someone sitting here where the bull's-eye would be in the middle of a war, I'd much rather there be a peaceful conclusion to this."
The ambassador added, however, that he thinks "we also understand the president is not bluffing when he tells Iran, 'You have a limited amount of time to make a decision to give up enriched uranium and nuclear ambitions.'"
Pressed on what could follow any strike, Huckabee cited the scale of U.S. forces in the region.
"The amount of resources that the U.S. has put here, two carrier groups, the Lincoln and the Gerald R. Ford, a significant number of fighters and support planes, we've pretty much stacked up everything we have in the Middle East," he said.
Huckabee also cast Iran as a direct threat to the United States.
"Iran for 47 years has been a threat to America," he said. "They've said, 'Death to America.' ... Their revolution started by overtaking the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and taking 52 hostages for 444 days."
Iran "tried to kill President Trump," Huckabee added.
"They hired an assassin to take him out," he said. "They have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of Americans through the years."
Huckabee also rejected the idea that Iran is only Israel's problem.
"This is an issue for America," he said.
"And if we do get involved, it's so that there will be a realignment in the Middle East and a possibility for peace like we haven't had in 47 years," Huckabee said.
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