Iran is in a "death spiral" after Israel's brutal strikes, and even though it's pushing back and causing some damage, it has no hope other than to surrender, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told Newsmax, Sunday.
"Every day it's getting worse and worse for them," Friedman said on Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "The ratio of damage in Iran versus Israel is probably 100 to 1."
He acknowledged that it is difficult to watch Israeli apartment buildings being destroyed and people being killed, but said Israel is withstanding Iran's attacks.
"Israel is not hermetically sealed," said Friedman. "No country is hermetically sealed. But by and large, Israel is withstanding the assault by Iran, and Iran, every day, they come closer to the end of that regime."
This leaves no hope for Iran other than to "surrender, give up its nukes, give up its ballistic missile program, and try to pursue peace," he added.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump recognizes that Israel, by carrying out attacks on Iran to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons, is "carrying the interests of the entire world on its shoulders," he said.
"A nuclear Iran is a threat to the entire world," said Friedman. "The entire world is in range. A hypersonic missile from Iran to the East Coast is maybe half an hour [away]. I mean, this is not Israel against Iran. This is the free world against radical Islamic terror."
Israel may end up needing some help, but for now, Trump has "played this exactly right," said Friedman.
"He has retained the ability of the United States to mediate a dispute, which I think he very much wants to do," he said. "But at the end of the day, when that dispute is mediated, it will be in the context of a defanged, declawed, no longer nuclear Iran. And that makes all the difference in the world. And the entire world should be thanking Israel for its courageous and frankly extraordinary, unprecedented military success."
Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meanwhile, only has words left as weapons, said Friedman.
"The words are harsh," he said. "They've always been harsh. But, you know, the Iranian skies are wide open. I mean, there is absolutely nothing that Iran has to impede the Israeli Air Force."
Meanwhile, the growing attacks on Iran are an "advancement of the cause of peace," said Friedman.
"Peace through strength means that we exercise our strength to bring about a more peaceful world," he said. "There cannot be peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. It's simply a binary challenge. Iran with a nuclear weapon is antithetical to peace. [Trump] recognizes that, and he recognized that in his first term … I think this is entirely consistent with the president's promises to the American people during his campaign."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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