Kamala Harris' tough words on Iran confounds critics

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Vice President Kamala Harris had harsh words for Iran in an interview Monday evening as she said the regime is America’s biggest foe. 

In a sit-down with CBS’ "60 Minutes," the Democratic presidential nominee was asked to name the U.S.’s greatest foreign adversary. "I think there's an obvious one in mind, which is Iran. Iran has American blood on their hands."

"This attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles. What we need to do to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power. That is one of my highest priorities."

Harris declined to say whether she would take military action if given proof that Iran is building a nuclear weapon.

"I'm not going to talk about hypotheticals at this moment," she told Bill Whitaker.

The suggestion that Iran was the greatest U.S. adversary raised some eyebrows — as China is thought by many to be foe No. 1. 

"Iran is our biggest adversary, not China?," Mary Kissel, former adviser to ex-Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Kamala Harris pictured in her sit-down interview with CBS' "60 Minutes." (Screenshot/CBS News)

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"Harris is completely clueless for claiming that Iran is America’s greatest adversary rather than China," former Trump adviser Steve Cortes said. 

"Really? It’s not Russia? It’s not China? A middle power is America’s greatest adversary?" Iranian nuclear researcher Sina Azodi questioned. 

Harris also defended U.S. aid to Israel — at a time when many liberals are calling on her to halt that aid or put conditions on it amid the rising death tolls across Gaza and Lebanon. 

"The aid that we have given Israel allowed Israel to defend itself against 200 ballistic missiles that were just meant to attack the Israelis and the people of Israel," she said. 

Harris highlighted threats from "Hamas, Hezbollah... Iran," asserting it is "without any question our imperative to do what we can to allow Israel to defend itself against those kinds of attacks."

Still, she held out hope that Israel and its enemies could get to a ceasefire deal. 

"The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles, which include the need for humanitarian aid, the need for this war to end, the need for a deal to be done, which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire." She added, "We're not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders."

"China is the far greater threat just about, I think, everyone's estimation," said Rob Greenway, a former Trump aide and senior director of the National Security Council. "If you really do view Iran as a threat, then the behavior they've made makes absolutely no sense."

Former President Donald Trump has blamed President Joe Biden and Harris for loosening sanctions on Iran, which he said made the U.S. adversary "very rich in a very short period," and prompted the turmoil that began with the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Residents of Jerusalem take shelter during an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1, 2024 (Credit Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

During a rally last week, Trump tore into the September 2023 prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran that facilitated a detainee swap in Qatar and resulted in the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from oil sales. 

"If they have somebody who was kidnapped, it’s always $6 billion. Whoever heard of that?" Trump said. "Somebody else gets like $4,000."

Iran said it had reached a "good understanding" to access the money from a Qatari bank account on Monday.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has long claimed it has not rolled back sanctions on Iran. But "it's not enforcing any sanctions," according to Greenway. Iran is now bringing in nearly $36 billion per year from oil sales.

Last week, Iran rained down 200 missiles toward Tel Aviv, many of them intercepted by both Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. capabilities. Though Iran’s proxies have long attacked both Israeli and U.S. postures, it was the regime’s first direct attack on Israel since April. 

Harris was sharply critical of Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal in 2018. President Joe Biden campaigned on returning to the deal, but failed to do so in office. 

"[Iran] made a tremendous amount of money. They have had doors opened by the U.S. administration," Greenway said. 

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The Trump administration’s policies "brought them to the brink of financial collapse." 

After Biden rolled back sanctions on Iran, the regime went from 500 centrifuges needed to make a nuclear bomb to 7,000. It went from 5% enriched uranium to 60% (90% is needed for a nuclear weapon.) It went from exporting 400,000 barrels of oil per day in 2019 under the Trump administration’s harsh sanctions to 1.7 million barrels per day today.

Iran, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is on the brink of mastering production of a nuclear weapon. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Reports also suggest renewed activity in two nuclear weaponization sites in Iran – Sanjarian and Golab Dareh.

Last week, Biden warned Israel to make sure its response to the Iranian missile attacks was "proportional," and urged them not to go after Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump on Friday said Israel should go after the nuclear facilities.

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While speaking at a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he said when Biden was asked about Israel attacking Iran, the president answered, "’As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you wanna hit, right? I said, ‘I think he’s got that one wrong. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to hit?’"

He added nuclear proliferation is the "biggest risk we have." 

Trump said when Biden was asked about Israel and Iran: "His answer should have been: 'Hit the nuclear first. Worry about the rest later.'"