Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott took to X on May 13, 2026, issuing one of his most direct and unambiguous calls yet for the United States to press toward outright victory in the ongoing Iran war — and warning that nearly five decades of Iranian revolutionary hostility toward America leaves no room for a negotiated half-measure.
“Iran has chanted ‘Death to America’ for nearly half a century,” Scott wrote in his X post. “To them, that’s not a slogan; it’s a promise. When your enemy tells you who they are, BELIEVE THEM. Victory for America is not an option, it’s the ONLY option.”
The post accompanied a full article in which Scott laid out his case in detail — invoking Ernest Hemingway, the Apollo 13 mission, and the 1983 Beirut bombing in a sweeping argument that the current conflict with Iran is not a matter of political preference or economic calculation, but of existential national security. “There is an old quote from Ernest Hemingway: ‘Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war,'” Scott wrote. “This is true of our conflict in Iran. We must win. Nothing less than victory is an option for America. We need to embrace the Apollo 13 mindset: ‘Failure is not an option.'”
47 Years of “Death to America”
The core of Scott’s argument rests on the Islamic Republic’s unbroken record of hostility toward the United States since the 1979 revolution — a record he argued disqualifies the regime from being treated as a credible negotiating partner. The chant “Death to America” has been a persistent symbol of Iranian revolutionary identity since 1979, repeatedly invoked by leaders and state-organized rallies. Shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the Western-backed shah, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than 50 Americans hostage for 444 days — an act Scott pointed to as the opening chapter of a long pattern of Iranian aggression against American interests.
Scott did not limit his indictment to rhetoric. He cited a string of specific attacks he attributed to Iranian sponsorship: the October 1983 suicide bombing in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,000 people in Israel including American citizens, and what he described as Iran executing 30,000 of its own people this year for peacefully protesting. “The murder of the innocent will be the legacy of this Iranian regime,” he wrote.
The Nuclear Threat Above All Else
Scott’s op-ed was emphatic that the singular focus of the conflict must remain Iranian nuclear ambition — and that economic pressures, however real, cannot be allowed to cloud that objective. “Different ‘experts’ are trying to read the tea leaves about what terms are acceptable to wind down the conflict and how the Strait of Hormuz affects global trade,” Scott wrote. “We need to keep a clear focus on the first principle of this conflict: Iranian nuclear ambition. We cannot dismiss their bloodlust. That’s the arena.”
He acknowledged directly that the war’s economic toll is being felt by ordinary Americans. “The price of gas is high. Fertilizer costs are spiking; these concerns cannot be dismissed,” Scott wrote. Drawing on his own biography, he added: “I grew up in a poor family. I understand how this squeezes a family’s budget and how unfair it feels when prices rise.” But he was clear that economic pain did not change the strategic calculus. “This is the greatest nuclear threat America has faced since the Soviet Union fell,” he wrote. “Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon for deterrence. The regime actively wants to detonate a nuclear weapon in our homeland and kill millions of Americans.”
Scott warned that Iran could carry out a 9/11-like attack on the United States if it successfully develops a nuclear weapon — a prospect he argued makes the present military campaign not a matter of choice but of obligation. “Americans need to come together again,” he wrote. “We don’t want another 9/11, and we can’t have an Iranian dirty bomb on our soil.”
Operation Epic Fury and the Path to Victory
Scott pointed to what he described as dramatic progress on the battlefield under Operation Epic Fury — the name given to the U.S.-led military campaign against Iran — as grounds for pressing forward rather than accepting a negotiated pause. The conflict began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran targeting military and government sites and assassinating several Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Because of Operation Epic Fury, Iran’s economy is in free fall,” Scott wrote. “The government is shattered. And the last remnant of the regime’s most radical believers, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, is on the ropes.” He argued that this moment of Iranian vulnerability represents a historic opportunity that must not be squandered. “This is a once-in-a-generation chance to finally neutralize the nuclear threat Iran poses to every American,” he wrote. “Our military is on the brink of victory. We can’t wait for Iran to rebuild. We can’t wait for Iran’s next attack. The radical Islamist regime is hearing its death knell. It’s time to deliver the final blow.”
Scott Among Hawkish Republicans Pushing for Resumption of Operations
Scott’s op-ed arrived against a backdrop of growing Republican debate over the direction of the Iran conflict during an ongoing ceasefire. With President Trump reportedly mulling the resumption of military action against Iran, fault lines have been opening among Senate Republicans over the prospect of a renewed military effort. Scott told Jewish Insider that military operations must resume, saying, “It’s the only thing that’s going to work, unfortunately.”
Not all Republicans share Scott’s urgency. Sen. Josh Hawley praised Trump for not following his colleagues’ calls to return to war, saying, “I want to applaud the termination of hostilities. He’s been urged to return to full scale bombing, to his original bombing campaign by many of my colleagues over the last two weeks. He’s very pointedly not done so.”
Scott has been consistent in this posture throughout the conflict. In a recent Fox News Sunday appearance, he stated: “What we have got to do is make sure Iran never has a chance to have a nuclear weapon. This is a regime that has been killing Americans for 47 years, taken money, like that Obama gave them, and used it to fund proxies, Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas. They’ve never complied with anything.”
“They Want to Kill Me, and They Want to Kill You”
Scott closed his op-ed with language that was deliberately personal and direct — framing the stakes of the conflict not in geopolitical abstractions but in terms of individual survival. “Iran wants to kill Americans,” he wrote. “They want to kill me, and they want to kill you. That’s not the world I want to leave for my children and grandchildren. I doubt Americans disagree.”
He also gestured toward a post-regime future for Iran, arguing that removing the Islamic Republic’s leadership could permanently resolve the Strait of Hormuz threat that has roiled global energy markets since the war began. “If we can decapitate the terror-supporting regime of Iran and let the people choose their future, we may never have to worry about the Strait of Hormuz closing ever again,” he wrote.
Scott concluded with a call for national unity ahead of November’s midterm elections. “This November, I want Americans to cast their ballots in the midterms knowing that our government and military are doing everything in our power to protect the country so they can enter the voting booth freely,” he wrote. “That’s a privilege Iran denies its people. It’s why, regardless of how anyone feels about how this conflict started, America must win.”