The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said the Trump administration ordered pre-emptive strikes on Iran because it was certain that an Israeli attack would provoke retaliation against American forces. Speaking after a classified briefing for lawmakers, Rubio told reporters that the US knew an Israeli action was coming and that Iran would respond by targeting US troops.
“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 we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” he said. Rubio was joined at the briefing by CIA director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Dan Caine.
The rationale divided lawmakers along party lines. Republicans defended President Donald Trump’s decision, while Democrats criticised the lack of a clear strategy. The Senate Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, called it “Trump’s war” and said the briefing raised “many more questions than it answered”. Mark Warner, the Democratic vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said there was no imminent threat to the US and warned against equating a threat to Israel with one to America.
Vice-President JD Vance said the aim was to ensure Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that Iran was building new underground sites that would make its ballistic missile and atomic bomb programmes immune within months, adding: “If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future.”
The US and Israel have carried out waves of airstrikes, killing several Iranian leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US military has reported six service members killed, while the Iranian Red Crescent Society says more than 500 people have died. A war powers resolution is expected to be voted on in the House of Representatives later this week.
