Iran saga takes new turn as Khamenei vows unrestricted response and Rubio says Trump undecided
🚨 NOW: Sec. Marco Rubio just emerged and said HE IS NOT BROADCASTING President Trump's next military move related to Iran to the Fake News "I'm NOT going to comment about what the US may or may not do militarily, nor am I going to be up here and BROADCAST any decision in that regard has been made! The President's observation is the United States remains the most highly capable military power on EARTH." "We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn't made a decision." THIS is how you do it. You never telegraph your moves to the enemy, why even ask? Every option stays on the table, and Iran gets to sweat it out through Election Day. They are panicked. 🇺🇸
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 31, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: The Iran war, which began early this year with a deadline of a few weeks, has a fresh development after several months of intermittent strikes and partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hours before Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remark about President Donald Trump’s decision on strikes surfaced, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement ordering an immediate and maximum response to any US or Israeli attack.
Marco Rubio says Trump undecided about reported Iran strikes after midterms
Rubio on Saturday, October 31, said that President Trump hasn’t made a decision about fresh strikes on Iran amid stalled peace talks.
Several reports claimed that Trump, in collaboration with Israel, is preparing for huge offensive attacks against the Islamic Republic after the midterms.
“We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn’t made a decision. I have no announcement in that regard with you today, and nor do we take any of it lightly,” Rubio said at a G20 press conference in Atlanta.
While Rubio underscored that Trump preferred a diplomatic solution, he stressed that he believes that “if we needed to do something military, we would have the ability to do it… but we would prefer to do it peacefully.”
Rubio further added, “What the Iranian regime is basically arguing is, ‘Unless we get what we want, not only will we blow up ships but we will destroy the energy infrastructure of our neighbors and the entire region’. Just think about that, because I think we just skip over that like it’s some normal behavior.”
US forces in the Middle East are ready to launch new, potentially major, military operations against Iran “within 96 hours of receiving” an order from Trump, two US officials told CNN in a report published on October 26.
Iran orders retaliation without geographic limits
Rubio's statement comes hours after Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei reacted to reported strike plans by the US and Israel.
He ordered the country’s armed forces to respond immediately to any new attack, regardless of where it comes from. Khamenei's response has raised the stakes.
Mojtaba Khamenei directed military commanders to expand their target list and increase weapons production.
In the message shared by Khamenei through his Telegram channel, retaliation was described as “geographically unrestricted” and he directed commanders to expand the range of potential targets to cover “all US and Israeli assets, tangible and intangible.”
