Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a key voice in the Trump administration’s explanation of the decision to launch Operation Epic Fury, reiterated why Iran poses a direct threat to the United States and its citizens, and why the strike was not only justified but necessary to protect Americans.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES!! Sec. Marco Rubio just delivered a mic drop moment in the Cabinet room
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 26, 2026
"What I'm talking about is not the people of Iran. The people that run this country are RADICAL, SHIA CLERICS. These are religious FANATICS. Look what they are doing now at their WEAKEST… pic.twitter.com/zsJDVNkKZi
"The most important job any president has is to keep the American people safe. And every president says it, but we have a president that means it and does something about it. As the president outlined very clearly to the world on the night this operation began, Iran has been at war with the United States for 47 years," Rubio said. "For 47 years, Iran has been killing Americans and attacking Americans across this planet. And now the president's had an opportunity to do something about it. And they all warned about how Iran was dangerous, but they refused to act."
"And this president's not someone that's going to refuse to act. He's not going to leave a danger like this in place. He's going to address it, and that is what he is doing," the Secretary of State continued.
He went on to explain that the Iranian regime is at its weakest point, as they have taken to attacking public infrastructure and embassies rather than military targets. In other words, what the world is watching is hopefully the last breath of a regime that has caused so much instability in its region and around the world.
People like this, and now what I'm talking about is not the people of Iran. The people that run this country are radical Shia clerics. These are religious fanatics. Look what they are doing now at their weakest point. This is the weakest Iran has ever been, and look at what they're doing. They're attacking embassies. They're attacking hotels. Imagine what these people would do if they had a nuclear weapon. That is an unacceptable risk for the world.
"By the way, the president's not just doing a favor to the United States and to our people," Rubio added. "This is for the world."
Rubio then provided the media with an update on the president's stated goals of the conflict, and how close the U.S. military is to achieving them.
"He defined very clearly on the first night of this operation what the goal was," the Secretary of State said. "We were going to destroy Iran's navy, and that is happening."
"We were going to destroy their missile-launching capabilities. We're well on our way to achieving that goal. We were going to destroy the factory so they couldn't make more missiles and more drones, and that is moving forward. Every single objective the president clearly laid out on the first night of this operation is being effectuated. Again, Pete [Hegseth] will speak to the specifics of it. This has been an incredibly successful operation. Every day, it may not get covered because, you know, unlike them, we're not bombing embassies and hotels. We're hitting military targets."
Once the operation proves successful, Democrats and others will have plenty of explaining to do on how it could be considered a net negative for the United States. The benefits of a weakened Iranian regime are substantial, potentially opening Middle Eastern markets to the West and strengthening ties with Gulf countries, shifting their influence away from China and toward the West.
