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By Tom O'Connor, Peter Aitken, and Gabe Whisnant
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James Anderson, the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, warned that Iran would be "suicidal" if its forces tried to target Americans in the region as Tehran begins its retaliation against Israel for strikes launched overnight Thursday.
In an interview with Newsweek, Anderson discussed Iran's potential next steps—both near-term and long-term—including cyberattacks, missile strikes, and whether Iran or its proxy groups would attack American forces in the regions.
"I think Tehran would be foolish to go after U.S. personnel in the region at this time," Anderson said. "They have their hands full right now with Mossad and the IDF. They would be suicidal lashing out at American targets now."
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Why It Matters
Tensions between Israel and Iran have increased in recent months, even as the Trump administration attempted to agree on a new nuclear deal with Tehran. However, this past week saw a breakdown in those efforts, with U.S. President Donald Trump admitting he has grown "less confident" about any deal materializing.
"Something happened to them... I am much less confident of a deal being made," Trump told the Pod Force One podcast.
The U.S. and Iran were set to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday, and Trump had previously discouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamine Netanyahu from taking military action while talks continued.
However, Israel launched a number of strikes on a variety of Iranian targets, including military personnel and nuclear scientists, in what Israeli leadership has called "Operation Rising Lion."
"In the enemy's attacks, several commanders and scientists have been martyred. God willing, their successors and colleagues will carry on with their duties without delay," The Islamic Republic of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Iranian officials have always denied seeking a nuclear weapon. The United States and Iran have held five rounds of negotiations regarding the country's nuclear program, with a sixth round scheduled for Sunday.
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What To Know
The U.S. has stressed that it had no involvement in the strikes, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called "unilateral."
"We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense," Rubio said.
"President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners," Rubio added. "Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."
An Israeli military official told Newsweek that the strikes were part of what has been dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," conducted in response to intelligence indicating that Iran had obtained enough material to produce up to 15 nuclear bombs. The alleged buildup, according to the Israeli military official, constituted an "existential threat to the State of Israel."
However, concerns remain that Iran could target U.S. military bases across the region as just one of several possible retaliation options, especially after Tehran promised an "unprecedented response" ahead of Israel's attack should any strikes target the country's nuclear facilities.
"In case of any conflict, the U.S. must leave the region because all its bases are within our range, and we will target all of them in the host countries regardless," Iranian Defense Minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Thursday.
Anderson, however, argued that Tehran's retaliation capabilities remain greatly diminished even as he said that the country's ability to retaliate has been greatly diminished by Israel's various strikes over the past year.
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"I think more is coming, probably in the form of additional drone and/or ballistic missile strikes in the near term," Anderson said, adding that "Israel has clearly weakened Iran's ability to retaliate."
"But remember that Iran has been stockpiling drone and missiles for a very long period of time, so they still have some capacity to retaliate, and I expect that they will do so in response to Israel's actions," Anderson said.
"I think it's also quite possible that over the longer term, Iran may well seek to exact some form of revenge through its proxies or through cyber-attacks or some other unconventional means," he added.
Iran launched counterstrikes on Israel as evening fell over Tel Aviv, some of the missiles breaking through the Iron Dome and hitting targets in the city as officials urged Israeli citizens to remain in bomb shelters.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a statement issued Friday evening local time, reported that Iran had launched missiles but that "defense systems are operating to intercept the threat."
"The public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice," the IDF said. "Leaving the protected space is only permitted following an explicit directive. Continue to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command."
Dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles then entered Israel, with some missiles successfully hitting targets in the city. Photos and video of the city show immense plumes of smoke rising from the strikes.
Anderson, however, underscored Israel's ability to combat Iran's strikes and defend itself over the long term, especially in partnership with the U.S. and other allies, much as it did last year when Iran launched around 120 ballistic missiles at Israel in April.
"Tehran will certainly try, at some point in the next few days, a large scale ballistic missile attack against Israel," Anderson said in the interview conducted shortly before Iran's first missile strike. "I think Israel has demonstrated the ability to do a pretty good job at handling such attacks, from what we saw last year."
"It's always possible that Iran could have some new tricks up its sleeves or try some different approaches with respect to sequencing its attacks," he added.
What Happens Next
President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is still scheduled to travel to Oman this weekend for discussions on Tehran's nuclear program, though officials say it remains uncertain whether Iranian representatives will take part.
Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning, "Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to "make a deal." They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn't get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!"
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