Rubio blasts media for questioning reason for Iran strikes: 'I don't understand the confusion'

WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Donald Trump administration’s strikes on Iran on Monday, March 2, saying the mission aims to eliminate the threats posed by the country’s ballistic missile and naval capabilities.

He warned that Iran’s missile and drone buildup, coupled with its nuclear ambitions under a radical clerical regime, posed a serious threat. Rubio called the operation “the right decision” and said it is on or ahead of schedule, leaving the Pentagon to handle tactical details.

Marco Rubio sets the record straight on the administration’s reasoning behind Iran strikes

Amid ongoing debate over the purpose and effectiveness of the Iran operation, Rubio sought to clarify the administration’s reasoning during a briefing with reporters on Capitol Hill.

“So look, the United States conducted this operation with a clear goal in mind,” the secretary of state said. “I haven’t got a chance to see a lot of reporting. I don’t understand what the confusion is. Let me explain it to you, and I’ll do it once again as clearly as possible. Perhaps you’ll report it that way.”

He went on to outline the mission’s objective: “The United States is conducting an operation to eliminate the threat of Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles and the threat posed by their navy, particularly to naval assets."

Rubio added, "That is what it is focused on doing right now, and it’s doing quite successfully. I’ll leave it to the Pentagon and the Department of War to discuss the tactics behind that and the progress that’s being made. That is the clear objective of this mission." 

Marco Rubio explains why the US struck Iran at this moment

Rubio addressed growing questions from reporters about the timing of the Trump administration’s weekend strikes on Iran. He explained why the operation occurred “now” and gave two main reasons.

He shared, “Well, there’s two reasons why now. The first is, it was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone, the United States, or Israel, or anyone, they were going to respond and respond against the United States.”

He added that Iran had already delegated orders to field commanders, making the response automatic. “Within an hour of the initial attack on the leadership compound, the missile forces in the south — and in the north, for that matter — had already been activated to launch. In fact, those had already pre-positioned,” Rubio stated.

The secretary of state cited a second reason related to US safety: “Assessment that was made that if we stood and waited for that attack to come first before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties. And so the president made the very wise decision. 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 didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we’d suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher those killed. And then we would all be here answering questions about why we knew that and didn’t act," he noted.