Did Marco Rubio Just Reveal The Real Reason Why The U.S. Attacked Iran?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have just given out some inside baseball on why the U.S. attack on Iran took place.

Since the beginning of the U.S. military operations in Iran, the messaging to the general public from the Trump White House has been that Operation Epic Fury’s objective was to take out Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

On Monday afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a new explanation for why the United States launched a military attack against Iran, revealing that Israel’s plans were a reason why.

The New York Post provided quotes from Rubio’s remarks to the press:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US attacked Iran because they knew Israel was going to launch a military strike, and the Trump administration worried about retaliation from Tehran.

“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill before briefing lawmakers. “We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces.”

Advertisement

He described Iran as an “imminent threat.”

“We knew that Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow,” he said, adding: “Had we not done so, they would have been hearings on Capitol Hill about how we knew that this was going to happen.”

Rubio also said the objective was not regime change, but ending Iran’s missile program.

“The objectives of this operation are to destroy their ballistic missile capability and make sure they can’t rebuild, and make sure that they can’t hide behind that to have a nuclear program,” he said.

Watch Rubio here:

Here’s how some conservatives on X reacted to Rubio’s comments:

Here’s another video of Rubio’s comments, which gives his remarks better context:

Later during his press conference, Rubio revealed the next move by the U.S. military.

Fox News provided Rubio’s full comments on the next wave of strikes:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that “the hardest hits are yet to come” for Iran, signaling an intensifying next phase of U.S. military operations and saying the campaign will continue until Tehran’s missile and naval capabilities are destroyed.

Speaking from the Capitol, Rubio said Iran has already suffered significant damage but indicated that more forceful strikes are ahead.

Advertisement

“They’re suffering a tremendous amount of damage,” he said. “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. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.”

“I don’t know how long it will take,” Rubio added, noting that the U.S. has clear 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.”