Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See has defended the country’s new military offensive in Iran as a service to global peace and security, and said the pope can be an “influential” moral voice in advocating for justice and nuclear disarmament in the region.

Speaking to Crux Monday, Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See Yaron Sideman said there is “absolutely foolproof concrete” evidence that Iran is close to achieving nuclear capabilities, and that any nuclear weapons produced would be used to attack Israel.

“We wouldn’t have engaged in such an operation if we had not been 100 percent sure that we’re at the 11th hour, and that the time to act is now, and a day from now it could be too late to take action,” Sideman said.

He also hit back against criticism from the international community that its actions in Gaza and Iran are disproportionate, arguing that Israel’s actions against Iran will not spark, but prevent a third world war.

“If Iran gets nukes, we’re going to have to get nukes. We don’t want it, but we’re gonna have to, and so will the rest of the Middle East, and that will plunge the entire region into a military nuclear war. So definitely what we’re doing is preventing a World War III,” he said.

Sideman also addressed remarks from Pope Leo XIV on Israel’s offensive in Israel, insisting that “no one should ever threaten the existence of another,” while also calling both parties “to responsibility and to reason” and to pursuing nuclear disarmament through respectful dialogue.

While voicing appreciation for the pope’s acknowledgement of Iran’s threats, Sideman said the approach of dialogue has not worked.

“Dialogue is what went on for nearly three decades…and it failed. Of course, dialogue is always preferable if it meets the objective, but it hasn’t,” he said, saying Israel also wants peace, and that the pope’s moral voice “can be very influential” in the current climate, suggesting that the moral decision is to support Israel in its current military endeavors in Iran.

Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran Friday, targeting military command and nuclear sites in what it called a “preemptive strike” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program. In turn, Iran, which has denied that its efforts in uranium enrichment are part of a secret weapons program, retaliated with a wave of missiles fired into Israel.

The exchange of fire continues as the death toll mounts on either side, including among civilians.

Please read below for Crux’s full interview with Ambassador Yaron Sideman:

Crux: It’s been said that this military offensive in Iran is intended to stop the building of nuclear weapons in Iran that will be used against Israel. How concrete is the evidence suggesting that they are close to nuclear capacity, and this will in fact, be used against Israel? 

Sideman: It is absolutely foolproof concrete. There is intelligence evidence for it, but also just a week ago, the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Association, it’s the U.N. nuclear watchdog, for the first time in 20 years, that’s not a trivial step, announced that Iran is in complete non-compliance with its nuclear obligations. It has in the past few months accelerated to a very large degree its production of ballistic missiles, intending to produce up to 300 of them a month. It accelerated its completion of the nuclear program and had enriched uranium to sixty percent, ready for the production of nine nuclear bombs. It had that in its stockpiles. Both the nuclear weapons aspect and the ballistic weapons development are an imminent threat, existential threat, to Israel.

One might suggest that maybe they’re just building it for fun, for recreational activity, and do not intend to use it at all, or not against Israel. Well, that doesn’t square with statements calling publicly for the elimination of Israel and the commitment of the Iranian regime, public commitment, to annihilate the State of Israel. As you recall, last year it launched, unprovoked, on two occasions, hundreds of missiles at Israel, just to prove that it means what it says. So, absolutely, we wouldn’t have engaged in such an operation if we had not been 100 percent sure that we’re at the 11th hour, and that the time to act is now, and a day from now it could be too late to take action.

What is your response then to criticism from the international community, namely that Israel’s operations in Gaza, and now Iran, are disproportionate, and that it is potentially using self-defense as an excuse to commit genocide against its enemies in the Middle East?

I would urge people holding that claim to look at the carnage inflicted by Iran on civilian populations in Israel. I think 21 dead already, huge amounts of damage ongoing. Whereas we are targeting military targets and nuclear targets in Iran, Iran is sending ballistic missiles equipped with a 500 kilograms or a ton of explosives deliberately to civilian populations in Israel causing immense damage and carnage and death and destruction there. Now I would only ask all those who claim that to imagine that those missiles will be equipped not with conventional explosives, but with nuclear weapons, and do the math in terms of the damage that it would cause. It has nothing to do, in that respect, it has nothing do with Gaza. It does have a relationship with Gaza and Hamas in other respects.

It is related in the sense that Hamas is part of the axis of evil headed by Iran, funded by Iran, and trained by Iran, who has committed publicly, just like Iran, to the destruction, to the annihilation of the State of Israel. Both have practiced what they preached, or at least tried; Hamas on October 7th, 2023, and instances before that, but that’s the shining example, and Iran in its continuous belligerent activity against Israel.

There’s growing concern that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East will lead to World War Three. Is that a concern for Israel, too?

If we allow Iran to continue on the path to acquire nuclear capabilities, that is going to definitely lead to World War III, because once Iran acquires nuclear capabilities, I’ll refer you to even an interview with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He said very clearly, a couple of weeks ago, if Iran gets nukes, we’re going to have to get nukes. We don’t want it, but we’re gonna have to, and so will the rest of the Middle East, and that will plunge the entire region into a military nuclear war. So definitely what we’re doing is preventing a World War III scenario in the Middle Eastern and beyond from occurring. The Middle East is quite a volatile area fraught with instability as it is without the military nuclear element there.

So we’re preventing a deterioration, not just in the Middle East, because Iran invested a lot in developing ballistic missiles that can carry a nuclear warhead for 2,000 kilometers. 2,000 kilometers reaches each and every capital in Europe. Why are they doing that? Why are they investing if they just are looking at Israel in ballistic missiles that target Europe as well? And I’m just asking the question.

Pope Leo XIV has called all parties to ‘responsibility and to reason’ and he’s also asked that nuclear disarmament be pursued through ‘respectful encounters and sincere dialogue.’ Is dialogue possible, at this point, or is the situation beyond that?

Dialogue is what went on for nearly three decades. I say nearly, but I may be wrong, it may be even more, and it failed, including recently with the United States, they had four rounds of dialogues and all of them failed to dissuade Iran from continuing on its military nuclear program. Of course, dialogue is always preferable if it meets the objective, but it hasn’t. On the contrary, with every round of dialogue, we saw Iran pushing forward even stronger on its military nuclear program. It used dialogue as a deceptive measure to stall for time and during that time to continue promoting its nuclear program. So dialogue did not achieve the result and therefore we have to take action before it will be too late to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities.

Pope Leo in his comments also said that ‘no one should ever threaten the existence of another.’ This appears to be a word of support for Israel and a recognition of the threat it says it faces. Did you appreciate this statement?

I definitely do. I think it’s a general truism that no one should threaten the existence of another, and it’s certainly the case when it comes to Israel continuously being threatened by Iran. Every two months, there is such a statement by a top Iranian leader. Iran is the only UN member that outwardly calls, publicly outwardly, calls for the destruction, for the annihilation of another UN member. That is just outrageous. How can the world continue, you know, can accept that? Well, being that other UN member, we do not accept it, and we will not allow it. And we’re taking action in order to make sure that it doesn’t have the means to carry out that threat.

Going back to the pope’s and the Vatican’s role, it will always be to call for dialogue and a peaceful resolution to conflict whenever that is possible. In this sense, what impact have the pope’s words had on Israel in terms of its military activities, and can his appeals make a difference?

Peace has always been and still is and will continue to be Israel’s primary objective. Peace, by definition, is always better than war, period. So the Pope saying that is very true, it’s very correct. We achieved peace with our neighbors in the past, neighbors who previously were amongst our fiercest enemies, Egypt for example, and we sacrificed for that peace. We know how to do that. We value peace a great, great deal and we know how to achieve it and we know how to sacrifice for it, but we also value our self-preservation and we will not compromise on our safety and security. We have to remove all those obstacles to peace. Some of them, like Iran, are an existential threat to Israel. So, peace is always the desire, the ambition, the goal, and with that there is no disagreement with Pope Leo

Do you think that the pope, the Vatican, could be a good mediator in attempting to achieve peace in the short-term?

I think the pope can be very influential. I don’t know if mediator is the word or another word, but I think the moral voice, the moral voice of the Holy Father, of the Holy See, of the Vatican is critically important in times like this. Look, we are looking here to really boil it down to the bare basics. We are looking at a regime that promotes hatred. And evil and terrorism and violence in a very clear, documented way in the Middle East and beyond, that espouses values of death for women who do not wear a hijab and LGBTs from cranes in public squares, that’s what we’re talking about here, as opposed to Israel, which is a civilized country that espouses a democratic country that espouses values of freedom, human dignity, respect and life.

So, we are talking about a clash between these two forces, forces of good, forces of evil, and that’s the way this should be seen. We are here doing a service, a service to the Middle East, Europe, and the entire world if we are able to move Iran away from its military nuclear program. Therefore, I think morally there is no question about what the right approach is here, and the Church, as the primary moral voice, has an important role in echoing that.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen