Iran is driven by desperation in its current conduct, the former commander of American forces in the Middle East said in an interview Sunday.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” former CENTCOM commander Frank McKenzie, now retired, said: “Iran is the country that’s in a corner. Their strike against Israel several nights ago was not particularly successful. Their principal ally in the region, Hezbollah has been decapitated, and its own offensive capability is gravely limited. Hezbollah’s is gravely limited. So Iran’s on their back heel.”
Last week, Iran launched a missile strike against Israel, a country that it considers a rogue nation, but its missiles did only limited damage. Iran was responding to recent attacks on its Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon; those attacks killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and caused other casualties, both among Hezbollah and civilians. Fighting continues in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, even as fighting continues in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, another Iranian proxy.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a rare appearance Friday at public prayers, praised those who died fighting Israel. “Our resisting people in Lebanon and Palestine, you brave fighters, you loyal and patient people, these martyrdoms and the blood that was shed shouldn’t shake your determination but make you more persistent,” Iran’s supreme leader said.
Israel, which said that most of Iran’s missiles were intercepted, has threatened to retaliate for its strike.
“Israel has a lot of choices here,” McKenzie told host Margaret Brennan. “They can choose for something that would be very escalatory in terms of a strike against the Supreme Leader himself, perhaps, or against the nuclear program, or against the oil infrastructure, or they could look at military intelligence targets. They have a wide variety of options that they can choose from. They have the capability to execute most of those attacks.”
Though he said Israel has a right to strike back, President Joe Biden said Wednesday he wouldn’t be in favor of Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.
McKenzie, in response, said he thought it unwise to “take a potential target off the menu” and thereby make it easier for the other country to plan its defense.
“Having said that,” McKenzie said, “the Iranian nuclear target is a very difficult target. We have special capabilities that allow us to get at it. The Israelis do not have all of those capabilities. They can certainly hurt this target if they choose to, if they choose to strike it. But again, because of its size, complexity and scope and how it’s expanded over the last 10 years, it’s a very difficult target to take out.”
Brennan wondered about the “risk of unintended consequences,” the possibility of triggering Iran to consider actually building a nuclear bomb.
“Margaret, it’s always been my belief that the Iranians flirt with breakout,” McKenzie said, “with getting fissile material to create a bomb in order to extract concessions from us.”
He added: “They also know if they cross that line, you can’t go back. That’s a Rubicon that can’t be recrossed.”
McKenzie, a retired Marine Corps general, was CENTCOM commander from 2019 to 2022. The command include responsibilities for the Middle East and parts of Asia, including a number of countries that were part of the former Soviet Union.
Speaking to Brennan, he also said he found it entirely believable that Iran’s leaders, driven by “desperation” as they seek to stay in power, could be targeting former President Donald Trump as he seeks to regain the presidency.
“They view the election of President Trump as a direct threat to that regime preservation,” he said.