Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the case powerfully regarding why now, and not a year from now or some other time in the future, was the best time to strike Iran.
His Tuesday comments to reporters on Capitol Hill came after Democrats, like Senate Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Mark Warner, pushed the talking point that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States.
“Let me explain to you guys this in simple English, OK? Iran is run by lunatics – religious fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons. They intend to develop those nuclear weapons behind a program of missiles and drones and terrorism that the world will not be able to touch them for fear of those things,” Rubio said.
“And this is the weakest they’ve ever been. Now was the time to go after them. The President made the decision to go after them, take away their missiles, take away their navy, take away their drones, take away their ability to make those things, so that they can never have a nuclear weapon,” he continued.
“That’s why the President made this decision. It was the right decision, and the world will be a safer place when these radical clerics no longer have access to these weapons. You see how they’re using them now. Imagine how they would use them a year from now if they had more of these,” the secretary of state argued.
WATCH: A fed up Marco Rubio got blunt with reporters who seemed unable to understand his repeated statements of the goals of the Iran strikes.
“Let me explain to you guys this in simple English, ok? Iran is…”pic.twitter.com/hRdhqVqlUX
— The Western Journal (@WesternJournalX) March 3, 2026
For those who say that Iran is Israel’s problem, keep in mind that the regime called America the “great Satan” and Israel the “little Satan.”
Just in November, Iranian lawmakers chanted “Death to America” in their parliament on the anniversary of their 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, when they took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
They did the same last June following Operation Midnight Hammer, and the nation announced it was suspending cooperation (such as it was) with the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct inspections, CBS News reported.
In other words, Iran doubled down on its nuclear weapons development ambitions.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this week that Iranians opened negotiations about ending their nuclear weapons program by bragging about how far along it already was.
“Both the Iranian negotiators said to us directly, with no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60 percent (enriched uranium), and they were aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs,” Witkoff recounted.
“And that was the beginning of their negotiating stance,” Witkoff said. “They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
Steve Witkoff noted earlier this week that during negotiations with Iran that the regime was “proud” that it evaded “oversight protocols”:
“In that first meeting, the Iranian negotiators said to us, with no shame, they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium and they’re… pic.twitter.com/hftsuEPO9F
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) March 4, 2026
It should also be noted that the Iranian government was developing intercontinental ballistic missiles to hit the U.S. directly. This says nothing about the regime’s deadly attacks on our troops and those of our allies in the region for years.
Rubio told reporters last week, before Operation Epic Fury began, that Iran was “headed in the pathway to, one day, being able to develop weapons that could reach the continental U.S..”
Iran is “clearly they are headed in the pathway to, one day, being able to develop weapons that could reach the continental US,” @SecRubio says in gaggle. He said Iran trying to achieve intercontinental ballistic missiles, and have been increasing the range of the missiles they… pic.twitter.com/GJaySUVSrJ
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 25, 2026
He argued on Tuesday that the U.S. preemptive strike is saving American lives and interests in the region.
“We went proactively, in a defensive way, to prevent them from inflicting higher damage,” he said.
“There was absolutely an imminent threat,” says @SecRubio on Iran.
“We knew that if Iran was attacked—and we believe that they would be attacked—that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded… We went… pic.twitter.com/ONXmRddAWL
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 2, 2026
Trump was right to act now. The kicking-the-can-down-the-road strategy of the Barack Obama and Joe Biden years only allowed Iran to be on the brink of having nuclear weapons, and given their radical apocalyptic ideology, they clearly had a willingness to use them.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
