Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Monday that the United States launched its military operation against Iran after obtaining intelligence about Israel’s planned strike, fearing Tehran would retaliate against American forces stationed in the region.
Rubio, addressing reporters prior to briefing congressional leaders, explained the administration’s calculus: ‘We had intelligence indicating an imminent Israeli operation. We anticipated this would trigger Iranian retaliation against our forces. By taking preemptive action before they launched their attacks, we prevented significantly higher casualties.’
The Secretary detailed that Iranian leadership had instructed field commanders to automatically respond against U.S. forces following any attack. ‘Waiting for their strike first would have resulted in substantially greater losses. President Trump made the strategically sound decision to conduct coordinated operations with Israel,’ Rubio stated.
When questioned about the constitutional requirement for imminent threat justification—a key threshold for military action without congressional approval—Rubio maintained: ‘The imminent threat was unequivocal. We knew that if Iran was attacked, which we expected, they would immediately target American personnel. We refused to passively absorb a potentially devastating blow.’
The revelation sparked immediate political backlash. Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker, criticized Israel’s role, stating on social media platform X: ‘Israel endangered American forces by insisting on attacking Iran. This is unacceptable behavior from both the President and a nation that claims alliance with the United States.’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously confirmed that Israel executed Saturday’s strike in Tehran that eliminated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials, based on intelligence about their gathering.
Rubio emphasized that regardless of the timing catalyst, the Trump administration believed military action against Iran was necessary. ‘This operation was ultimately unavoidable,’ he asserted, while clarifying that regime change wasn’t the primary objective. ‘While we hope the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish a new future, our mission specifically targeted the destruction of their ballistic missile and naval capabilities.’