Washington cites imminent threat to American forces
Washington: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the United States struck Iran only after learning Israel planned an attack and concluding Tehran would retaliate against US forces.
Rubio told reporters that US officials knew an Israeli operation would trigger Iranian counterstrikes against American personnel. Therefore, he said, President Donald Trump authorized a joint strike to reduce potential casualties.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” Rubio said. “If we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Moreover, Rubio said Iran had instructed field commanders to respond automatically against US forces if Israel attacked. As a result, he argued, Washington faced an imminent threat. “We were not going to sit there and absorb a blow,” he added.
However, Representative Joaquin Castro criticized the decision. The Texas Democrat said Rubio’s remarks showed that Israel “put US forces in harm’s way” by insisting on striking Iran. Castro called the situation unacceptable for both the president and a US ally.
Mission objectives extend beyond timing concerns
Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Israel carried out Saturday’s strike in Tehran that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other senior officials after intelligence indicated they were meeting.
Nevertheless, Rubio maintained that the administration supported military action regardless of Israel’s timetable. “No matter what, ultimately this operation needed to happen,” he said.
Rubio emphasized that the mission aims to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile and naval capabilities, not to force regime change. Still, he expressed hope that the Iranian people would eventually overthrow their clerical government and shape a new future.
