Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators that U.S. military operations have substantially weakened Iran’s conventional forces, reducing the protection Tehran had built around its nuclear ambitions.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate on Tuesday that U.S. military operations have severely weakened Iran’s conventional forces, arguing that Tehran’s ability to shield its nuclear program has been substantially reduced.
Rubio made the remarks during his first Senate testimony since the war with Iran began in late February, when joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeted Iran and killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The secretary said Iran’s strategy had been to develop nuclear weapons behind a large conventional military force made up of missiles, drones, naval assets and other weapons. He said that strategy was designed to make action against Iran’s nuclear program increasingly difficult.
“Iran’s desire to build a nuclear weapon was going to be built, was going to be effectuated behind a conventional shield,” Rubio said. “They were going to build for themselves so many missiles, so many drones, so many conventional weapons, including a navy, that at that point there’s nothing you could do about it.”
Rubio said U.S. strikes have changed that calculation by degrading the Iranian military and opening a path to further pressure on the regime’s nuclear infrastructure.
He specifically pointed to the destruction of Iran’s navy, saying Tehran no longer has a meaningful naval force.
“Today, there is no Iranian navy. There is no such thing. There’s a bunch of Boston whalers with machine guns on them, but there is no navy,” Rubio said. “There is no Iranian navy. It lies at the bottom of the ocean, and will soon, within a number of years, be prime fishing spots, because they’ll turn into reefs. So, my whole point is that the Iranian conventional shield has been substantially eroded, eroded.”
Rubio used the hearing to highlight what he described as major U.S. military successes in the conflict. His testimony framed Iran’s weakened conventional forces as a critical development in the broader effort to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The remarks came as the Trump administration continues pursuing military and diplomatic pressure against Iran after months of conflict.
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