Iranian state media reports missile drills, then denies them
Huckabee: Iran ‘didn’t get the full message’ when US bombed its nuclear sites
US ambassador addresses reports the Islamic Republic is rebuilding its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, worrying Jerusalem; Tehran says missiles are nonnegotiable
by Nava Freiberg, Follow You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page Agencies and ToI Staff · The Times of IsraelUS Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned Monday that Iran “didn’t get the full message” following Washington’s strikes on the country’s nuclear sites during the Israel-Iran war in June.
“I don’t know that [Iran] ever took [US President Donald Trump] seriously until the night that the B-2 bombers went to [the] Fordo [nuclear facility],” Huckabee said in an interview at an Institute for National Security Studies conference.
Answering a question about Tehran’s reported efforts to rebuild Fordo, Huckabee told the interviewer: “I hope they got the message, but apparently they didn’t get the full message because, as you mentioned, they appear to be trying to reconstitute and find a new way to dig the hole deeper and secure it more.”
The comments came amid reports that Israel is worried about Iran’s rebuilding efforts and could launch another attack to thwart them. Iran insisted Monday that its missile program is for defensive purposes only, while its state media issued conflicting reports about missile drills.
Asked whether the US would greenlight another Israeli offensive against Iran if Israel determined that such a move was necessary, Huckabee responded: “All I can do is point to you what [Trump] has said repeatedly, and he consistently has said Iran is never going to enrich uranium, and they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
He added that Iran renewing its ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities threatens not just Israel and the US, but also “presents a real threat to all of Europe.”
“And if the Europeans don’t understand this, then they’re even dumber than I sometimes think they are,” he added, while noting that Europe has put snapback sanctions back into force against Iran and encouraging “more of those kinds of things.”
Iran: Missile program is for defense, not up for debate
Iran, meanwhile, insisted that its missile program is defensive, and said the existence of its arsenal is not up for debate.
“Iran’s missile program was developed to defend Iran’s territory, not for negotiation,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a weekly press conference on Monday.
“Therefore, Iran’s defense capabilities, designed to deter aggressors from any thought of attacking Iran, are not a matter that could be talked about,” he said.
The comments came as Telegram channels of Iran’s public broadcaster and semi-official Nournews published videos of what appeared to be missile launches. The authenticity of the videos was not independently verified.
The outlets said launches took place in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Mashhad.
Later in the day, however, state media cited “informed sources” as denying that missiles were tested and saying the circulated images were of “high-altitude aircraft.”
No clarification regarding the conflicting reports was provided.
On Sunday, Axios reported that Israel has warned the US that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may be using an ongoing military exercise focusing on missiles as cover to launch an attack on Israel.
That story came in the wake of another report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to present US President Donald Trump next week with options for the US to join another Israeli attack on Iran, primarily out of concern about its missile program.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Trump ally, told The Times of Israel on Sunday that if Iran is trying to enrich uranium again and to expand its ballistic missile program, “it’d be in our national interest to hit them now.”
Israel cited Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as its reason for attacking the Islamic Republic in June, saying both programs posed existential threats to the Jewish state, and that Iran was moving toward nuclear weaponization.
The direct confrontation came more than a year into fighting between Iran-backed groups across the region and Israel, beginning when the Hamas terror group attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Over 12 days in June this year, successive waves of Israeli airstrikes killed Iranian nuclear scientists, took out much of the supply and production capacity for the missile program, and damaged uranium enrichment sites, with the US joining in the last days to attack underground nuclear facilities that only heavy bunker-buster bombs could penetrate.
Iran said over 1,000 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the war. It retaliated by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel, which killed 32 people and wounded over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals.