Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s decision to launch the war on Iran, saying it was “necessary” to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Rubio admitted that the war was not “necessarily popular,” acknowledging the war’s impact on the Republicans‘ midterm election losses last week. Rubio made the statement in response to questions about Vice President JD Vance’s statement last week that also pinned the losses on the war.
Rubio said Trump was responding to a “very real threat” when he launched the war earlier this year.
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“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said.
Trump himself has made no apologies for the war, stating repeatedly since Election Day that he had no choice but to intervene in Iran’s nuclear program.
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“I can tell you if I had it to do again, this historically — for history — will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. “Because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world.”
Trump nevertheless told “60 Minutes” in an interview this weekend that he is not currently looking to escalate the conflict.
The U.S. and Iran are engaged in talks, but Rubio says they are making little progress.
“I wouldn’t say we’re at the verge of a breakthrough,” Rubio said. “Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.”
Iran lifted its self-imposed ballistic missile-range limit and threatened to unleash new, homegrown weapons on Sunday within hours of the U.S. military launching a new task force aimed at choking off Tehran’s weapons shipments and illicit trade on Nov. 7.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi confirmed that Iran was now abandoning its previous 2,000-kilometer, or roughly 1,240-mile, ballistic missile-range restriction.
“That restriction has been lifted for us,” Mohebbi clarified in the wake of the task force announcement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.