The Israeli envoy argues the US-Israeli campaign aims to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, exporting terrorism, and gaining leverage over global energy routes
As fears mounted Tuesday over the security of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter warned that the confrontation with Iran is about far more than Israel alone. Roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through the strait, making even the threat of mining or disruption enough to rattle oil markets and governments alike.
That anxiety intensified after US concern grew over possible Iranian mining activity in the waterway. President Donald Trump responded with a blunt warning on the Truth Social platform: “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” He added that if mines had been placed and were not removed, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” while promising the US would use anti-trafficking technology and missile capabilities to stop any vessel attempting to mine the strait.
You can’t have nuclear bombs in the hands of a tyrannical, apocalyptic regime that intends on using it and calls America the great Satan and Israel the little Satan and talks about eliminating Western civilization
In an interview with The Media Line’s Felice Friedson, Leiter argued that the US-Israeli campaign is aimed at stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, exporting terrorism, and threatening the free flow of oil. “You can’t have nuclear bombs in the hands of a tyrannical, apocalyptic regime that intends on using it and calls America the great Satan and Israel the little Satan and talks about eliminating Western civilization,” he said.
Leiter, an American-born Israeli diplomat serving as Israel’s ambassador in Washington since January 2025, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and immigrated to Israel in 1978. He later served in senior political and policy roles, including as chief of staff to Benjamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu was finance minister, and held positions dealing with Israel’s strategic affairs and diplomacy. His official biography published by the Israeli Embassy in Washington also notes academic work in law, political philosophy, and international relations. His public role has also been shaped by personal loss: his son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Leiter, was killed fighting Hamas in Gaza in November 2023.
Asked why such a broad military effort was necessary, Leiter said Iran’s scale and long-term nuclear preparation left little room for half measures. “Iran is a very large country. It’s a population of 92 million people. It’s a territory twice the size of Texas,” he said. “They’ve been planning this day for many years when they can come into negotiations and say that they have 462 kilograms of enriched uranium at 60%, which could, within a week, be brought up to 90% and provide them with 11 nuclear bombs. OK. So this had to be eliminated.”
Leiter said Iranian missile fire into Israel has declined but not disappeared, despite the performance of Israeli and American air defense systems. He pointed to Israel’s multilayered defenses, including David’s Sling and Arrow, together with US THAAD and Aegis systems, but stressed that no shield is perfect. “They cannot keep the skies sealed hermetically. Some missiles get through,” he said. “But we are seeing a dwindling numbers of the missiles getting off. Just this morning, we took out a missile launcher from which they were shooting a cluster missile, and we’re going to pursue these launchers and these missile sites with great intensity.”
He also accused Iran of borrowing the same human-shield tactics long associated with Hezbollah and Hamas. “They’re now, because their command centers have been hit, they’re now taking over hospitals and schools and recreation centers, trying to operate there,” Leiter said. “We, of course, avoid hitting these centers, and sometimes at our own detriment.” He added that even when Israel strikes in residential areas, “we do something called knock on the roof, and we tell all the surrounding area to leave, very much to our own detriment. We get less results because of it, but we do everything we can to avoid civilian damage.”
On the question of whether the campaign could topple the regime, Leiter stopped short of promising externally imposed regime change. Instead, he spoke repeatedly of “regime collapse” and said any political transformation would have to come from within Iran itself. “There’s always a point of combustion. Nobody knew when the Soviet Union would collapse. But it collapsed at a certain point,” he said. “We’re talking about regime collapse. We’re not talking about regime change. The people on the ground have to do the change. We have to collapse them so that we can protect our own future, our own citizens, our own people.”
I think that the boots on the ground that we need are the Iranian boots
He dismissed the idea that either Israel or the United States needs a ground invasion to achieve that end. “I don’t think there’s any inclination for either Israel or the United States to put boots on the ground. I don’t think we need a ground operation,” he said. “I think that the boots on the ground that we need are the Iranian boots.”
Leiter argued that once the regime begins to fracture internally, suppressed minorities and the broader Persian population could move against it. “By all indications, once the cracks in the regime develop into larger chasms and we start seeing various aspects or various units in their security apparatus turn against each other, that will be a sign for these minorities and for the majority of the Persian population in the cities to come together and seize control,” he said.
He also tied the wider regional campaign directly to Tehran’s financing of armed groups across the Middle East. Iran, he said, sends Hezbollah about $1 billion a year and Hamas roughly $350 million annually, while also supporting the Houthis with funding, training, and weapons. If the regime loses power or resources, he argued, its ability to bankroll proxy warfare will wither with it.
When Friedson raised US anxiety over oil prices and asked whether Americans grasp that the war is not only about Israel, Leiter pushed back hard on the idea that President Trump had been dragged into the fight by Jerusalem. “It’s clearly not about Israel,” he said. “If anybody listens to the president of the United States, I think it’s terribly insulting to the president when people say on social media that he was dragged into this.” Leiter said Israel had presented its case, but that President Trump made his own decision to lead.
He went even further, describing Israel as the junior partner in the campaign. “This is an American operation. We’re a junior partner. We’re a model ally. We’re a loyal ally. We don’t ask for American boots on the ground,” Leiter said. “We fight side by side, shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing. But we’re a junior ally.”
If a nuclear Iran were to take control of the Straits of Hormuz, well, who’s going to control the flow of oil throughout the world?
Linking the war directly to the Strait of Hormuz, Leiter said the danger extends well beyond the battlefield. “If a nuclear Iran were to take control of the Straits of Hormuz, well, who’s going to control the flow of oil throughout the world?” he said. “The American people are good people. They understand that this is a battle for the future of Western civilization, and they’re the leaders in making sure that we survive.”
Asked whether Iran could also move toward chemical weapons, Leiter offered a grim answer. “Malevolent actors will go to the most evil types of weapons,” he said. “They’re using these cluster bombs. They want to develop nuclear weapons. If they can, they’ll develop chemical weapons as well.”
He ended on a more personal and national note, invoking both the loss his own family has suffered and what he described as Israel’s determination to endure. “We want peace. We love peace. We strive for peace. People of Israel are tired of war, but we’re also very resilient,” Leiter said. “And we’re not going to give up because this is our life. And this is our lifeline. And this is our country.” He added: “Israel is here for keeps.”
