ICYMI—Hagerty Joins The Big Take on Newsmax to Discuss U.S. and Israeli Military Operations in Iran

WASHINGTON-On Saturday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Ed Henry's The Big Take on Newsmax to discuss the U.S. military's ongoing Operation Epic Fury, its earlier Operation Midnight Hammer, and President Trump's strategy to end the Iranian regime's deadly threats to the United States, Israel, and other allies.

Partial Transcript

Hagerty on Democrat criticism of Operation Epic Fury and Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran: "They completely missed the point, which seems to be typical of the Democrat Party these days. They're just so possessed by politics, they can't look at the reality of the situation. And the reality is, very simply, this Operation Midnight Hammer [in June 2025] was a complete success. We took out their nuclear capabilities. That was the objective. We executed that with perfection, along with our allies in Israel. This time, our objective [with Operation Epic Fury] is very clear as well: taking out their short-range [and long-range] ballistic missile capability. We're doing that right now. We've struck them immensely. If you think about what Israel did-200 jets coming in-this is in the wake of them taking out a large part of Iran's Air Force capabilities and air control capabilities. They have now completely obliterated Iran's air control. They've opened up the airspace. They will be able to finish the job. Israel is working in the north of Iran, the United States is working in the south. We're going to remove the threats on our nation, the threats on commerce in the region. We're going to remove the threat of Iran totally. And this is how you avoid a war. This is precisely how you avoid a war, again, with a bloodthirsty nation, with leaders like you've seen who have been willing to kill Americans, kill our allies. They have been unrealistic in the negotiations with our team, and this is what happens. President [Donald] Trump means business."

Hagerty on the path forward in Iran: "I talked with an Iranian friend of mine in New York today. He was very pleased with the way things are going. What's going to take place? I think this is going to have to move quickly. You underscore the reasons why it should move quickly. President Trump has invited the Iranian people to take their country back. This is the once-in-a-generation opportunity to do that. We're going to stand by and be supportive of this. President Trump is creating the opportunity. He could not have been more clear with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] leadership: lay your weapons down, you will have immunity, and if you don't, you will die. I don't know how more clear you could make this."

Hagerty on U.S. intelligence capabilities: "Think about the exquisite intelligence that we've had here. Think about the success of this operation, the success of Israel's operations in Iran. Think about what they were able to do to Iran's supply chains, blowing the thumbs off every Hezbollah leader, or worse. We have exquisite intelligence, and the way you do that is by having people very close. I think that doesn't require any sort of classified information to figure this out. We've got very deep connectivity into Iran. I think we'll be able to figure this out. We'll be able to work closely with those who can. My hope is that we'll bring this to a close as quickly as possible. Iran has a number of weapons still there, but I think the message President Trump sent was very, very clear."

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