U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed that Washington launched pre-emptive strikes against Iran largely because it believed Israel was preparing a military attack — and that Tehran would retaliate against American forces. Rubio argued the U.S. acted to prevent higher American casualties, as Iran responded to joint U.S.–Israeli strikes that killed senior Iranian leadership, including the supreme leader. The conflict has already resulted in at least six U.S. service members killed and escalated tensions across the Middle East, stirring political debate in Washington.
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#RubioIranWar #USIsraelIran #USStrikesIran #IranConflict #IranWar2026 #MiddleEastWar #TrumpIran #IsraeliAttackIran #IranRetaliation #USMilitaryIran #IranWarNews #SixUSKilled #RubioComments #USPoliticsIran #IranCrisis
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NewsTranscript
00:00The United States conducted this operation with a very clear goal in mind.
00:04I haven't got a chance to see a lot of reporting.
00:06I don't understand what the confusion is.
00:08Let me explain it to you, and I'll do it once again as clearly as possible.
00:11Perhaps you'll report it that way.
00:13The United States is conducting an operation to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles
00:19and the threat posed by their Navy, particularly to naval assets.
00:23That is what it is focused on doing right now, and it's doing quite successfully.
00:27I'll leave it to the Pentagon and the Department of War to discuss the tactics behind that
00:31and the progress that's being made.
00:32That is the clear objective of this mission.
00:34The second question that I've been asked is, why now?
00:37Well, there's two reasons why now.
00:39The first is it was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone,
00:43the United States or Israel or anyone, they were going to respond and respond against the United States.
00:48The orders had been delegated down to the field commanders.
00:51It was automatic, and in fact, it bared to be true,
00:54because, in fact, within an hour of the initial attack on the leadership compound,
01:01the missile forces in the south and in the north, for that matter, had already been activated to launch.
01:06In fact, those had already been pre-positioned.
01:08The third is the assessment that was made that if we stood and waited for that attack to come first
01:13before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties.
01:18And so the president made the very wise decision.
01:20We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.
01:23We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces.
01:26And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks,
01:30we would suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher those killed.
01:34And then we would all be here answering questions about why we knew that and didn't act.
01:38Going back to the purpose.
01:40The purpose of this is to destroy that missile capability.
01:43Why does Iran want that ballistic missile capability?
01:46What they are trying to do and have been trying to do for a very long time
01:49is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield where they can hide behind,
01:54meaning there would come a point where they have so many conventional missiles,
01:58so many drones, and it can inflict so much damage that no one can do anything about their nuclear program.
02:04That is what they were trying to do, is put themselves in a place of immunity
02:08where the damage they can inflict on the region would be so high
02:11that no one can do anything about their nuclear program or their nuclear ambitions.
02:15They are producing, by some estimates, over 100 of these missiles a month.
02:20Compare that to the six or seven interceptors that can be built a month.
02:23They can build 100 of these a month,
02:25not to mention the thousands of one-way attack drones that they also have.
02:29They've been doing this for a very long time,
02:30and by the way, they've been doing it under sanction.
02:32You see the attacks they're conducting right now?
02:34They're attacking airports.
02:36They're attacking hotels.
02:38They're hitting not just military bases.
02:40They're attacking our embassies directly.
02:42They're attacking facilities that have nothing to do with war or with military.
02:45And that's a weakened Iran.
02:47That's in Iran despite years of sanction.
02:49Imagine a year from now, or a year and a half from now,
02:51the capabilities they would have to inflict damage on us.
02:54It's an unacceptable risk,
02:56especially in the hands of a regime that's run by radical clerics.
03:00The Ayatollah is a radical, was a radical cleric.
03:03That entire regime is led by radical clerics
03:07who don't make geopolitical decisions.
03:09They make decisions on the basis of theology,
03:12their view of theology, which is an apocalyptic one.
03:14That has to be taken very seriously as well.
03:17So that was the purpose for what this operation is all about.
03:20That's what it's focused on.
03:21As the president said earlier today, it is on or ahead of schedule.
03:24I will defer to the Department of War to discuss
03:26the progress being made at a tactical level,
03:28but it was the right decision and an important decision
03:31for the safety and security of the world.
03:38Does Congress have to weigh in?
03:42Does Congress have to weigh in?
03:43Is the president declaring war?
03:45And does Congress have to weigh in?
03:46And was there an imminent threat?
03:48Did you tell lawmakers that there was an imminent threat?
03:50There absolutely was an imminent threat.
03:51And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked,
03:55and we believe they would be attacked,
03:56that they would immediately come after us.
03:58And we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded.
04:03Because the Department of War assessed that if we did that,
04:05if we waited for them to hit us first after they were attacked,
04:08and by someone else, Israel attacked them,
04:10they hit us first, and we waited for them to hit us,
04:13we would suffer more casualties and more deaths.
04:15We went proactively in a defensive way
04:17to prevent them from inflicting higher damage.
04:19Had we not done so, there would have been hearings on Capitol Hill
04:22about how we knew that this was going to happen,
04:25and we didn't act preemptively to prevent more casualties
04:27and more loss of life.
04:32No, first of all, let me, two things I would say.
04:38Number one is, no matter what,
04:39ultimately this operation needed to happen.
04:41That's the question of why now.
04:42But this operation needed to happen.
04:44Because Iran, in about a year, or a year and a half,
04:46would cross the line of immunity,
04:48meaning they would have so many short-range missiles,
04:50so many drones, that no one could do anything about it,
04:52because they could hold the whole world hostage.
04:54Look at the damage they're doing now.
04:56And this is a weakened Iran.
04:58Imagine a year from now.
04:59So that had to happen.
05:00Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions
05:02and understood what that would mean for us,
05:04and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it.
05:06But this had to happen no matter what.
05:10Mr. Secretary, President Trump said overnight
05:13that his top choices to now run Iran
05:15were killed in the strikes.
05:17Does the United States have a firm plan
05:19for how they intend to handle this tower vacuum in Iran
05:22to ensure that an IRC hardliner does not take power?
05:24So two things, and two things can be true.
05:26Number one is, our mission and our focus
05:28is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities
05:31and their ability to manufacture them,
05:32as well as the threat posed by their Navy to global shipping.
05:35That's our objective.
05:37That said, we would not mind, we would not be heartbroken,
05:40and we hope that the Iranian people
05:42can overthrow this government
05:43and establish a new future for that country.
05:45We would love for that to be possible.
05:46But the objective of this mission
05:48is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities
05:50and of their naval capabilities.
05:52Mr. Secretary, President Trump,
05:55So are you saying, based on that,
05:56are you saying that there is no responsibility,
05:59no plan for the U.S. to at least play a role
06:01in whatever government comes next to it?
06:03I mean, we might.
06:04We'll see how circumstances play out.
06:05But I'm telling you what the objectives of this operation are.
06:08The objectives of this operation
06:10are to destroy their ballistic missile capability
06:12and make sure they can't rebuild it
06:14and make sure that they can't hide behind that
06:16to have a nuclear program.
06:17That's the objective of the mission.
06:19That said, abundantly clear,
06:21we would love for there to be an Iran
06:23that's not governed by radical Shia clerics.
06:25As I've said myself repeatedly for years,
06:28the leadership of that country
06:30does not reflect the people of Iran,
06:31and I think that's been pretty apparent
06:33in the protests that you've seen.
06:34If there's something we can do
06:35to help them down the road,
06:36we'd obviously be open to it,
06:38but that's not the objective.
06:39The objective of this mission
06:40is the destruction
06:41of their ballistic missile capabilities.
06:44The regime change has not gone well
06:46for the United States.
06:47The what now?
06:48The regime change has not gone well
06:49for the United States
06:50for many, many decades.
06:52How do you assure the American public
06:53that things will not get worse
06:55for the next regime that comes in there
06:56and replaces the actual government?
06:58We would love to see this regime be replaced.
07:00And ultimately, as the president has said,
07:02he calls...
07:02No, no, but let me finish my answer.
07:04As the president has said,
07:05he would love for the people of Iran
07:07to use this as an opportunity
07:08to rise up and remove these leaders.
07:10They've been wanting to remove them
07:11from a long time.
07:12We've seen successive waves of protests,
07:14and we've seen them slaughter people.
07:16Okay?
07:17But the objective of this mission
07:18is to make sure they don't have these weapons
07:20that can threaten us
07:20and our allies in the region.
07:22That's why we're doing what we're doing now.
07:23And while we would love to see a new regime,
07:26the bottom line is,
07:26no matter who governs that country,
07:28a year from now,
07:29they're not going to have these ballistic missiles
07:30and they're not going to have these drones
07:31to threaten us.
07:32That's the objective of this mission,
07:34is to deny them the ability
07:35to use ballistic missiles
07:37to threaten their neighbors,
07:38to threaten our bases,
07:39to threaten our presence in the region,
07:41and ultimately as a shield
07:42behind which they can do whatever they want
07:44with their nuclear weapons ambition.
07:46We were not going to let them hide behind that,
07:48and that's why this was such a critical mission
07:50to undertake now,
07:51while they were at their weakest point,
07:52and not a year from now,
07:54where they could inflict even more damage
07:55and perhaps already be behind
07:57that point of immunity.
08:02Go ahead, you and then you.
08:04Your critics in Congress have said
08:06that they should have a role,
08:07they should be able to weigh in here,
08:09and there are going to be
08:10more power resolution votes
08:11in Congress later this week.
08:13Why not notify Congress ahead of this?
08:16Well, we didn't.
08:17We notified Congress.
08:18I mean, we notified the Gang of Eight.
08:19We notified congressional leadership.
08:21There's no law that requires us to do that.
08:23The law says we have to notify them
08:2448 hours after beginning hostilities.
08:26We've done that.
08:27I think the notification went today,
08:28but we did notify members of Congress in advance,
08:31but we can't notify 535 members of Congress.
08:34Vote to authorize the law.
08:35Well, the Congress can vote on whatever they want,
08:37but there's no law that requires us to do that.
08:39And I want to say something,
08:40because I see people on TV,
08:41look, that's fine.
08:42If they want to take a war powers vote,
08:43they can do that.
08:44They've done that.
08:44They've done that a bunch of times.
08:46But there's no...
08:46People keep saying that we have...
08:48There's no law that requires the president
08:49to have done anything with regards to this.
08:52To begin with,
08:53no presidential administration
08:55has ever accepted the War Powers Act
08:56as constitutional.
08:58Not Republican presidents,
08:59not Democratic presidents.
09:00That said,
09:01we have followed the notification at 48 hours,
09:03and we're here today.
09:04I've done more Gang of Eight briefings
09:06than I got in the four years
09:08that Biden was president
09:09and I was a member of the Gang of Eight.
09:10All of that said,
09:11we've complied with the law 100%,
09:13and we're going to continue to comply with it.
09:15We've done the notification,
09:16you know,
09:16and we've officially to Congress,
09:18but we did notify members of Congress.
09:20We just can't notify 535 people.
09:22That's not possible.
09:23But we did the Gang of Eight twice.
09:25I briefed them last week
09:26and then I called them
09:27the night before the operation.
09:28Secretary,
09:28what does he say?
09:29Please tell us what you know,
09:30Mr. Secretary,
09:31the administration knows
09:32about the strike in the building
09:34and something wrong.
09:35The Ukrainians are saying
09:36that the school
09:37reports of lodging
09:38is including children and children.
09:40Yeah.
09:41I've seen those reports.
09:42I don't have...
09:42I would refer you,
09:43not because I'm not trying
09:44to answer your question,
09:45but I don't want to get it wrong.
09:46The Department of War
09:47would be investigating that
09:48if that was our strike
09:50and I would refer your question to them
09:52and I'll make sure they're aware
09:52that you have that question.
09:54But we'd like to know.
09:57Well, clearly,
09:57the United States
09:58would not deliberately target a school.
10:00Our objectives are missiles,
10:02both the ability to manufacture them
10:03and the ability to launch them
10:04and the one-way attract drones.
10:06That would be our focus
10:07and that's what we would be focused on.
10:08We would have no interest
10:09and frankly,
10:10no incentive
10:10to target civilian infrastructure.
10:13The Iranians are,
10:15on the other hand,
10:15targeting civilian infrastructure.
10:17You guys have seen it.
10:17I'm sure you've seen it.
10:18They're hitting hotels.
10:19They're hitting embassies.
10:21They're hitting airports.
10:22They're hitting oil infrastructure.
10:26Well, it'd be very tragic,
10:27but I can't speak to the details
10:29behind it
10:29because I just don't have it.
10:31It would be a tragic outcome
10:32if it's happened.
10:33I don't have the details
10:34as to what led to it,
10:35but what is clear
10:35that the United States
10:36would not deliberately target a school.
10:38They are, on the other hand,
10:40deliberately targeting civilians,
10:41as you've seen
10:42because you know why?
10:43They are a terroristic regime.
10:45They sponsor terrorism
10:46and they participate in terrorism.
10:48That's all.
10:50All right.
10:51What's your message to Americans
10:52who are concerned
10:53about rising energy prices
10:54given the spiking
10:55of oil prices today?
10:57Yes,
10:57and we knew that going in
10:59would be a factor
10:59and so we have a program in place
11:01that will begin to be implemented
11:02by Secretary Wright,
11:04Secretary Besant.
11:05We talked about it last night.
11:06Again, about this program.
11:07We talked this morning
11:08and starting tomorrow,
11:09you will see us rolling out
11:10those phases
11:11to try to mitigate against that.
11:12Obviously, markets are going
11:13to be reacting to news
11:15about what's happening.
11:17And again, a reminder,
11:18think about it, okay?
11:19This terroristic regime
11:20led by radical clerics
11:22has the ability, potentially,
11:24to shut off 20% of global energy.
11:26That's the kind of leverage
11:27they have because of their Navy.
11:29We're going to destroy their Navy.
11:30But there is a plan in place.
11:32We anticipated this could be an issue
11:33and Secretary Wright and Besant
11:35will begin to roll out
11:36those steps starting tomorrow
11:37to mitigate,
11:38to mitigate against the impact
11:39that could happen.
11:42I've got to do this briefing,
11:43so I've got a couple more.
11:45Do you anticipate putting groups
11:47on the ground,
11:48and how long do you anticipate
11:49the conflict to last?
11:51Well, we don't.
11:52Let me say two things about it.
11:53Number one,
11:53the President always has the options
11:55to undertake whatever operations
11:56he decides to do
11:57as the Commander-in-Chief.
11:59That said,
12:01we believe the objective
12:02that we have set for this mission,
12:03which is the destruction
12:04of the ballistic missile capabilities,
12:07both launch capability
12:08and manufacturing,
12:09can be achieved
12:10without ground forces.
12:11Right now,
12:12we're not postured
12:12for ground forces,
12:13but obviously,
12:14the President has those options.
12:15He's never going to rule out anything.
12:17But right now,
12:17our focus is on the destruction
12:19of their ballistic missile launchers,
12:21their ballistic missile stockpiles,
12:23and their ballistic missile
12:24manufacturing capability,
12:25as well as their one-way attract drones
12:27and their Navy
12:28because of the threat
12:29it poses to global shipping.
12:30How long, Mr. Secretary?
12:32How long do you have to ship?
12:32How long do you have to ship?
12:34All right, I've got to do one more.
12:35Right there in the middle.
12:37Yes, sir.
12:37Is there a diplomatic exchange
12:38going on right now
12:39between the U.S. and Iran?
12:41Any exchanges whatsoever
12:42outside of Iran?
12:43No, not at this time.
12:44I mean, look,
12:44we always have people
12:45that reach out
12:45from inside of governments.
12:47You don't know
12:47if they're authorized
12:47to reach out or not.
12:49They're suffering
12:49a tremendous amount of damage.
12:51Honestly,
12:52again,
12:52I'm not going to give away
12:53the details
12:54of our tactical efforts,
12:55but the hardest hits
12:56are yet to come
12:57from the U.S. military.
12:58The next phase
12:59will be even more punishing
13:00on Iran
13:01than it is right now.
13:02Someone was screaming,
13:02how long will it take?
13:03I don't know how long
13:04it'll take.
13:04We have objectives.
13:05We will do this
13:06as long as it takes
13:07to achieve those objectives,
13:08and we will achieve
13:09those objectives.
13:09The world will be
13:10a safer place
13:11when we're done
13:12with this operation.
13:13All right?
13:14Thank you, guys.
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