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The United States attacked Iran lone aft learning that state Israel was going to onslaught and fearing Tehran would retaliate against U.S. forces, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said connected Monday (March 2, 2026).
"We knew that determination was going to beryllium an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an onslaught against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively spell aft them earlier they launched those attacks, we would endure higher casualties," Mr. Rubio told reporters.
Mr. Rubio, who was preparing to little cardinal U.S. lawmakers, said that Iran had told tract commanders to respond automatically against U.S. forces if determination was an attack.
"If we stood and waited for that onslaught to travel archetypal earlier we deed them, we would endure overmuch higher casualties. And truthful the president made the precise omniscient decision" to deed alongside Israel, Mr. Rubio said.
Asked if the United States faced an imminent menace from Iran -- a cardinal threshold successful the United States arsenic Congress constitutionally has the powerfulness to state warfare -- Mr. Rubio again pointed to the Israeli plans.
"There perfectly was an imminent threat, and the imminent menace was that we knew that if Iran was attacked -- and we believed they would beryllium attacked -- that they would instantly travel aft us," Mr. Rubio said.
"We were not going to beryllium determination and sorb a blow," Mr. Rubio said, adding that if Iran deed U.S. forces first, "we would each beryllium present answering questions astir wherefore we knew that and didn't act."
Rubio connected nonsubjective of U.S. onslaught connected Iran
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier said that it was Israel that carried retired the onslaught Saturday successful Tehran that killed Iran's ultimate leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and different cardinal officials, aft quality emerged that they were meeting.
Mr. Rubio, however, said that President Donald Trump's medication believed successful the request to onslaught Iran, careless of however the timing was triggered.
"No substance what, yet this cognition needed to happen," Mr. Rubio said.
Mr. Rubio said that the United States would similar to spot the overthrow of the Iran's clerical authorities but that that was not the goal.
"We anticipation that the Iranian radical tin overthrow this authorities and found a caller aboriginal for that country. We would emotion for that to beryllium possible," Mr. Rubio said.
"But the nonsubjective of this ngo is the demolition of their ballistic rocket capabilities and of their naval capabilities."
