U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz reacted to Witkoff’s remarks on Face the Nation. When asked if the administration was seeking the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program of verification like the 2015 nuclear deal struck under the Obama administration, Waltz stated:
“Full dismantlement. Iran has to give up its program in a way that the entire world can see. As President Trump has said, this is coming to a head. All options are on the table, and it is time for Iran to walk away completely from its desire to have a nuclear weapon, and they will not and cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapons program. That’s enrichment, that is weaponization and that is its strategic missile program. “Can you only imagine? We’ve seen the death and destruction that they’re doing through its proxies…if they had nuclear weapons, the entire Middle East would explode in an arms race, and that is completely unacceptable to our national security. I won’t get into what the back and forth has been, but Iran is in the worst place it has been from its own national security since 1979, thanks to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Assad regime and its own air defenses being taken out through the Israelis.”When asked if diplomacy is still on the table, Waltz replied:
“Well, of course. The president has all options on the table, but we want to be clear. This isn’t some kind of – kind of tit for tat that we had under the Obama administration or Biden. This is the full program. Give it up or there will be consequences.”