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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday the “imminent threat” posed by Iran was its expected retaliation to planned Israeli military action, which he said prompted the United States to strike first.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday.
“Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it,” he said.
Rubio said “this had to happen, no matter what.”
Rubio said the objectives of the operation are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capability, prevent it from rebuilding and ensure it cannot use that capability to shield a nuclear program.
He said those objectives can be achieved “without ground forces,” adding that the U.S. is not postured to deploy them.
“But obviously, the president has those options. He’s never going to rule out anything,” Rubio said.
Rubio added the administration “would not be heartbroken” if there is regime change in Iran.
“We hope that the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish a new future for that country. We would love for that to be possible,” he said.
Rubio said the strongest attacks have not yet been delivered.
“I’m not going to give away the details of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military,” he said.
“The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.”
Pressed on how long the campaign would last, Rubio said it would continue as long as necessary.
“How long will it take? I don’t know how long it will take,” he said. “We have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes to achieve those objectives. And we will achieve those objectives, the world will be a safer place when we’re done with this operation.”
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