The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Israel-Iran War Will ‘Be For Naught’ if the Regime, Nuclear Program Survive

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Regardless of whether Israel has the capabilities to decimate Iran’s entire nuclear program, or if the United States needs to become further involved in the war and provide Israel with “bunker-buster” bombs, one thing is clear: “If this war should end with the Iranian regime intact and the elements of its nuclear program recoverable, then, in some ways, it will be all for naught,” argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”  “It is surreal. If we had this conversation five years ago and I said to you, ‘the Iranian nation—that is huge compared to Israel, 10 times the population—the Iranian nation has lost all control of the Houthi terrorists and they are themselves neutered. Their surrogates in the West Bank, Gaza are neutered. They're gone, Hamas as a fighting force. The formidable, the terrifying Hezbollah cadres, they're inert. ‘“‘There is no Russian presence. It's not a patron. It is not a protector. It's not a power in the Middle East. It's tied down in Ukraine. And Iran itself, the formidable powerhouse of the Middle East that evoked terror all over, has no defenses. “And we're down to a single critical issue… if this war should end with the Iranian regime intact and the elements of its nuclear program recoverable, then, in some ways, it will be all for naught.’”  👉 This episode is sponsored by the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. Learn more: https://go.pepperdine.edu/dailysignal     👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1  👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273  👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com  The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/  00:00 Introduction: A Historic Moment in the Middle East 01:40 The Iranian-Israeli Conflict: A Surreal Scenario 02:08 The Current State of Iran and Its Allies 03:21 Israel's Strategic Moves and the Critical Issue 04:25 The Role of the United States and Potential Outcomes 06:20 Conclusion: The Future of the Middle East 07:17 Closing Remarks and Call to Action Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. Never in our lifetimes have we been closer to a complete promise of normality for the Middle East, and never have we been in more danger of seeing the entire region blow up. The Iranian nation has lost all control. Iran itself, the formidable powerhouse of the Middle East that have evoked terror all over. Has no defenses. The Israelis have systematically dismantled the terrorist hierarchy,

the people who are responsible for the nuclear program, and we're down to a single critical issue. All of this chaos and all of this war will be for naught. If the war ends with the regime intact and a recoverable nuclear program, it won't just be back to square one. It will be a disaster. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. We are at a historic time in the Middle East.

Never in our lifetimes have we been closer to a complete revolutionary, fervor that gives promise of normalcy for the Middle East and never have we been in more danger of seeing the entire region blow up. What am I referring to? And that is the war right now between Iran and Israel. It is surreal. If we had this conversation five years ago, and I said to you, the Iranian nation that is huge compared to Israel, 10 times a population, the Iranian nation has lost, all control of the Houthi terrorists, and they are themselves neutered. Their surrogates in the West Bank Gaza are neutered. They're gone as a Hamas as a fighting force. The formidable, the terrifying Hezbollah cadres, they're inert. There is no more Syria, the Assad dynasty,

the pro-Iranian, the Syria. It's in chaos, but whatever the chaos is, seems to be anti-Iranian. There is no Shia crescent, starting with Tehran all the way to the Mediterranean. Lebanon is free of Iranian influence. So is Syria. Gaza de facto will be. There is no Russian presence. It's not a patron. It's not a protector.

It's not a power in the Middle East. It's tied down in Ukraine. And Iran itself, the formidable powerhouse of the Middle East that evoked terror all over, has no defenses. And now we've seen five days of war in which the Israelis have systematically dismantled all of the Iranian missile defenses. They have air defenses. They have dismantled the terrorist hierarchy. They have dismantled the people who are responsible for the nuclear program. And we're down to a single critical issue.

They have suffered casualties. The Iranians have sent over 400 ballistic. missiles and drones into Israel. And 90% are stopped, but that 10% gets through. But here's the crux. All of this chaos and all of this war will be for not if Iran's Theocracy emerges intact from this war, and its nuclear infrastructure can either be quickly rebuilt or there are elements of it that have been missed, and maybe there is enough fissionable material, if not already, soon to make another bomb. So here we are at the critical point. Should Israel continue, does it have the ability to nullify the entire nuclear program, which was the object of this war? Or must it rely on

the bunker-buster devices, bombs of the United States? And if the United States should try to go into these key nuclear facilities and blow them up with the ordinance and the aircraft that it has, which Israel lacks, will it be fighting an optional Middle East war of which the Maga doctrine says, no more forever wars, no more intervention in the Middle East, no more ground groups, or can Trump say, I'm not an isolationist, I'm a Jacksonian, you should have known that when I took out Soleimani in my first term, when I took out Baghdadi, when I took out the Wagner group, I don't like to intervene. But when people threaten the United States, and our deterrence is a matter of conjecture, I want to ensure that they understand the repercussions.

And so is there a fight between the isolationists and the Jacksonians, or is it just a minor group of people on the right who don't want any action at all? And we don't know the answer yet. But if this war should end with the Iranian regime intact and the elements of its nuclear program recoverable, then in some ways it will be all for not. And people will make the necessary adjustments in the Middle East. And it won't be necessarily, well, Iran is still very weak. They've lost all their terrorist surrogates. They have no air defenses. They've lost their media. They've lost their commanding them. It will be more like, my gosh, Iran survived everything that Israel and by

association the United States throughout it, it's indestructible. And so we're at a critical cusp. Do you risk more danger by taking out and eliminating the nuclear threat for good and by association humiliate the theocracy to the point it can be overthrown? Or do you play it safe and have negotiations and allow the regime and the remnants to survive? I don't like forever wars. I don't like preemptive I do not like the United States intervening anywhere in that God-forsaken area. But if the war ends with the regime intact and a recoverable nuclear program, it won't just be back to square one. It will be a disaster.

So we'll see what happens. And hold on everybody. I think we're going to see things that we haven't seen in the lifetime in the Middle East. And it could turn out very bad, but it could also turn out to be quite revolutionary and remake the map of the entire region. Thank you very much. It's Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to The Daily Signal.

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