Waltz says US threat to bomb Iranian bridges, power plants is ‘perfectly acceptable’

By AP 19 April 2026, 7:00 pm

1 Edit

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz speaks after the United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution calling for the unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz, during a UN Security Council meeting on Iran and the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York on April 7, 2026. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

After US President Donald Trump renewed his threat to “knock out” every Iranian power plant and bridge, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz defends such a move as valid on the battleground.

Waltz says going ahead with such a threat “would be an escalatory ladder.”

Iran and its proxies “have a long history of actually deliberately hiding military infrastructure in hospitals, schools, neighborhoods and… and other civilian assets… They have no ground to stand on,” Waltz tells ABC’s “This Week.”

“It’s perfectly acceptable in the rules of land warfare,” Waltz adds, noting that Iran has used drones and missiles to strike hotels, resorts and homes across the Gulf.

“So this is just a ridiculous argument,” he says.