Name: Iran Could Be 'Rendered Defenseless' Says Former Defense Secretary
Uploaded: 2026-03-02T21:31:50.000Z
Duration: 11 min 4 s
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I think obviously the operation was more than just a decapitation operation.

It included taking down their air defenses, their ballistic missile launching capabilities, further degradation of their nuclear program.

And the, the coup de grace of this, I guess, is the decapitation part of it.

And yes, I look, I think that's always an option.

If you could take out the senior leadership of a foreign country, that can really knock out their ability to command, to communicate, to inspire their forces.

And so I think it was a risk worth taking.

The fact that not only taken out was Khamenei, but

also the defense minister, the head of the IRGC and Israel saying several dozen other senior commanders really could leave the state of Iran again, very destabilized, no clear chain of command and chaotic actions.

And we may be seeing some of that right now that they don't yet know how to respond, which is why they are lashing out at several Arab countries through the use of drones, through the use of ballistic missiles.

Secretary Esperant, let me ask you for your perspective on the timeline for what happens next here.

And I imagine when you were in the Pentagon, there were scenario planning meetings in which you would have thought through what might happen if this were to come to pass, if the supreme leader were to die or be killed and the nation were to be thrust in this kind of uncertainty.

How long do you think it's likely to take?

And as you look to other, other capitals, other places in the Middle east being brought into this, into this war, what does it tell you about the timeline?

Well, I think first of all, at the operational level, we know that President Trump has said this could go on for several days.

They've talked about a period of bombing and strikes with a pause to do bda, which is battle damage assessment.

And did you hit the targets, did you destroy them or do you need to go back and double tap them?

So I think that continues for a few days, but

we will likely reach a point here fairly soon where the Iranians will have had so many ballistic missile launchers destroyed, missiles rendered incapacitated, that Israel United States will have free, unfurtered ability to fly over Iran and strike any targets as they want.

And I think that will come sooner rather than later.

It appears some of that's happening now because the air defenses just don't seem to be capable.

So I think we'll reach out in a period of days which will render Iran relatively defenseless.

Then the question will be what else Does Iran try and do, for example, use.

Activate their terror network around the world to include here in the United States?

I think the bigger question, though, is politically is who is going to assume charge in the coming days.

We know that Iran is appointed a, and it's constitutional, a three persons to run the country.

In the interim, it's the head of the judiciary, the president, and a member of the Guardian Council.

But the important thing is who will succeed Ultimately, Khamenei.

Will it be a senior cleric that will preserve the theocracy?

Will it be a senior military commander from the IRGC that will try and establish the military as the foremost power, or will be somewhere a civilian who's not a cleric, who is in the Iranian system, more pragmatic?

I think we need to see all that play out in the coming days.

Right now, it seems like the clerics have the.

Have the edge because, you know, the constitutional process is being followed.

Then I think, economically, we're all watching to see what they try and do with the Strait of Hormuz.

Will they try and close it as a way to rattle oil markets, threaten their Arab neighbors and whatnot.

And then lastly, diplomatically, it's interesting to see so many people sitting on the sidelines or not doing much.

I mean, obviously, Russia and China have protested American actions.

So when I look at these next few days, I look at those four pillars of how this may go.

Secretary, I'm wondering what you know about this kind of caretaker appointee that they've named this morning.

That is not traditionally how that is done in Shia Islamic tradition, but it's unprecedented times.

I mean, you mentioned they're following the Constitution.

Is that really a succession plan that you think is durable given all the other factors, or are you afraid that we could end up with a power vacuum in Tehran?

First, of course, we know that Khamenei had identified a successor a couple of years ago, and

it was President Raisi who was killed in early 2024 in a helicopter crash, obviously unexpectedly.

And he never publicly named a successor after that, although he supposedly privately listed three people that would be considered successors.

People had often spoken within the country about his son, but

Khamenei did not want any type of hereditary leadership.

To resume it would sound too much like the previous monarchy to the Iranian people.

And of course, there's the grandson of the original, the first Ayatollah Khamenei, who is in the running as well.

But we really don't know who these players are.

And again, it would depend on who is exercising more power.

The clerics have charge under the constitutional system.

This will eventually go to the 88 member assembly of Experts, all of whom are clerics and all of whom must follow the or should follow the Constitution, which says that it must be a cleric who succeeds Khamenei.

But again, I think it depends on how these different power centers play out and interact over the coming days.

We've also heard the name of former President Rouhani, who's the leader who negotiated the JCPOA with the Obama administration.

Yeah, I think I put him more in that third category of not necessarily strongly associated with the IRGC or the clerics, but

somebody who is a politician, who is maybe more pragmatic, maybe he's a cleric, but

So, again, that's one of the nodes that we've got to watch in terms of the power struggle internally.

We talk about Iranians following their constitution.

I think there's a roiling debate here in the US about did the president follow the Constitution or follow his obligations to tell Congress what he was doing, indeed go to Congress for permission before doing this.

We've seen that the Gang of Eight was briefed, I believe, by the Secretary of State, not the Secretary of Defense, on the night of the State of the Union.

There are reports now there's going to be a wider briefing for lawmakers today on, on Capitol Hill.

Did the president make a mistake, did the administration make a mistake by not going to Congress in advance of these significant strikes?

I mean, look, we, we all know the Iranian profile case very well.

You know, I've been, since going, being in D.C.

in the mid-90s, I've been following the Iranians and all the ups and downs and the pursuit of NUC Richmond and, and

their proxy terror network throughout the region.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill understand this regime very well.

We do know that Marco Rubio was up testifying before Congress last week or the week before, most likely was asked about the regime.

He did go to the Gang of Eight, which was a smart thing to do during my time when we killed Soleimani we did the same thing.

I did the same thing speaking to the Gang of Eight, but also the Armed Services Committee.

So they're going through the right motions.

I would want to, obviously, see more from the President and his Cabinet coming out and speaking directly to the American people.

I think that would help explain where this is going, the whys, the what's and hows and whens.

And then obviously there will be congressional hearings.

I went through the same thing after the Soleimani strikes, where the Cabinet can get into more detailed classified discussions with the Congress concerning what they saw, what they believed to be the emerging threats, maybe the Iranian pursuit of their nuclear program.

All these things will play out over time, but I think right now they're in good stead.

The President certainly has the authority under Article 2 of the Constitution.

And the question will be is how long does this drag on?

And I think if it drags on, that's where more questions will be asked about coming to Congress, requesting authorization, implementation of the War Powers act, which, of course, is contested by the executive.