Marco Rubio defended the administration’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury, arguing the strike protects Americans and advances global security by degrading Iran’s military capacity.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped forward with a direct, unapologetic case for the operation, framing Iran as an ongoing, decades-long threat to the United States. He positioned the strike as a necessary action to stop attacks that have targeted Americans and U.S. interests around the world. Rubio spoke plainly about the need for decisive leadership to keep citizens safe.

“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.

Rubio explained that Tehran is showing signs of weakness by striking soft targets like hotels and embassies instead of confronting military forces directly. That pattern, he argued, reflects a regime that is desperate and dangerous, and that desperation increases the risk it will lash out in unpredictable ways. From Rubio’s perspective, the timely application of force removes options for further escalation by Iran.

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 also took the opportunity to lay out the administration’s stated objectives and report progress to the public. He argued the goals were specific, limited, and focused on degrading Tehran’s ability to wage asymmetric warfare, not on prolonged nation-building. That emphasis on clear objectives was offered as evidence the operation was conducted with strategic discipline.

“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.”

From a Republican point of view, Rubio argued that weakening Iran has broader strategic benefits, including opening room for our Gulf partners to reorient economically and diplomatically. A degraded Iranian military-industrial capability reduces threats to commercial routes and allies, and it shrinks the regime’s capacity to project force. The Secretary of State suggested that criticism from opponents would need to address those practical outcomes, not just rhetoric.

Taken together, Rubio’s remarks framed the operation as the product of a president willing to act where others hesitated, with measurable objectives and a focus on real security gains. He cast the strikes as defensive and preventive, aimed at stopping further attacks on Americans and preventing a far worse threat from emerging. For Republicans who favor strong responses to hostile regimes, Rubio’s words were a clear endorsement of decisive action.