Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday provided a new explanation from the Trump administration regarding the timing of the U.S. decision to launch military action against Iran. He emphasized that the threat from Iran was “imminent” because Tehran knew it would retaliate against the U.S. if attacked, including retaliation triggered by an Israeli strike.
Speaking to reporters prior to briefing the Gang of 8 congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, Rubio stated, “There absolutely was an imminent threat. And the imminent threat was that we knew that if 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 before we respond.”
Shortly after the briefing, House Speaker Mike Johnson supported Rubio’s rationale, underscoring that the consequences would have been staggering if the U.S. had not acted simultaneously with Israel.
Rubio explained that the U.S. was fully aware of how Iran would respond. “It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone — the United States, Israel, or anyone — they were going to respond, and respond against the United States. The orders had been delegated down to the field commanders,” he said. “It was automatic.”
He pointed to the near-immediate retaliation from Iran as proof, noting that missiles had been “prepositioned” to strike even before the initial attack on the leadership compound. “If we stood and waited for that attack to come first, before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties,” Rubio added.
He further explained, “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.”
However, Rubio denied claims that Israel had forced the Trump administration’s hand, insisting that U.S. military action would have been necessary regardless. “No matter what, ultimately, this operation needed to happen. That’s the question of why now,” he said, referring to the impending Israeli strike. “But this operation needed to happen.”
https://abcnews.com/Politics/rubio-us-struck-iran-fearing-retaliate-israeli-attack/story?id=130694505
