Ex-White House official warns Tehran-backed militias could access nuclear tech

Former Deputy National Security advisor Victoria Coates says a possible nuclear-armed Iran would pose a direct threat to the United States, pointing to decades of hostile rhetoric and attacks attributed to Tehran.

“Iran has been chanting ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ for almost 50 years now, and the Supreme Leader has said that that's not just a slogan, that's a policy,” she added. “He is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Beirut, in Iraq, in Latin America.”

Coates highlighted Iran’s investments in long-range missile capabilities and warned of potential nuclear terrorism through allied groups.

“They've been willing to pour resources into developing a delivery mechanism in the form of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” she said. “They could provide it to a terrorist proxy… What if Hamas had had a backpack bomb on October 7th?”