Huckabee: At some point, US must tell Iran that ‘enough is enough’

By Ariela Karmel

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16 February 2026, 9:07 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations' Leadership Mission in Jerusalem, February 16, 2026. (Courtesy)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says he hopes a diplomatic accord with Iran can be reached, but he is skeptical that military action can ultimately be avoided, as indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran resume tomorrow in Geneva.

“Will there be anything that can come from that that will bring peace?” he asks, while speaking to Jewish leaders at a gathering of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem. “I honestly don’t know. I know there’s a lot of significant and legitimate doubt that the Iranians will ever agree to something that would cause them to lay down any ambitions of nuclear weaponry.”

“At some point, the United States needs to say: enough is enough, we’re not going to continue to believe that they’re ever going to be different than they are. And it’s time for them to either make a radical change of their point of view and their direction, or for them to experience what we call in the south, the ‘second kick of a mule,'” the ambassador says.

Huckabee says US President Donald Trump has made it clear that military action against Iran is “not his first choice,” but that it would be “his absolute desire to make sure that they do not continue to wreak havoc in the world.”

He reiterates that Israel and the United States are “absolutely aligned in our understanding that Iran has to be dealt with and it cannot continue as it is.”

“They cannot remain a nuclear threat. They cannot continue to build extraordinary surpluses of ballistic missiles and aim them, not just at Israel, but also at the rest of the world,” he continues.

While Huckabee says he would be “delighted” if an accord could be reached — adding that the consequences of failing to do so for Iran will be “harsh and much worse” than Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran last year — he expresses skepticism that Iran would be “serious” about making or keeping such a commitment.

Huckabee says he told Trump last week at the White House that it would be “miraculous if some deal could be reached that would thwart the need, the necessity, the absolute certainty of some military action,” but also that he is “willing to do whatever must be done to stop this threat that I’ve had to listen to for 47 years since 1979.”