Florida: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended President Donald Trump's decision to launch a war against Iran, saying military action was necessary to address what he described as a serious nuclear threat, even if the decision was not “necessarily popular”.
Rubio's comments came after Republicans suffered a major setback in Tuesday's elections, with Democrats taking control of Congress. The unpopularity of the Iran war, its impact on fuel prices and wider economic concerns contributed to the Republican losses.
Asked about Vice President JD Vance's social media post last week, which largely blamed the war for the Republican defeat, Rubio told reporters that Trump had “identified a very real threat” in Iran and acted to prevent the Islamic Republic from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn't necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said in Florida before travelling to Paris for a Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting.
Rubio, the country's top diplomat, offered a strong defence of the more than eight-month-old conflict even as voters blamed Trump's policies for rising living costs. Energy prices have increased amid disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil transited before the war.
His remarks also placed him at odds with Vance, amid speculation about the presidential ambitions of both men for 2028.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Vance was right about the war contributing to the Republican losses, but said the vice president should also have emphasised that the decision to launch military action was justified.
“I can tell you, this historically — for history — will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” Trump said. “Because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world.”
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the country has 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, a technical step below the 90 per cent level generally associated with weapons-grade uranium.
With no clear strategy from the Trump administration to end the conflict and the region facing the possibility of renewed major hostilities, mediators are attempting to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Asked about the prospects of an agreement, Rubio said, “I wouldn't say we're at the verge of a breakthrough.”
He reiterated that Trump preferred a diplomatic solution but said negotiations had made little progress because of Iran's demands.
“Right now, it hasn't been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic,” Rubio said.
The Associated Press has reported that Iran was reviewing proposals presented by Qatar, the chief mediator, to address differences with the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme.
However, Iranian officials have indicated that Tehran is unwilling to negotiate over its nuclear activities until Washington agrees to several conditions as part of a ceasefire arrangement.
These include ending the US blockade of Iranian ports, lifting sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets, providing compensation for war damage and ending hostilities across the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon.
While Rubio said there was no immediate diplomatic breakthrough, Trump told CNN in a phone interview on Sunday that a resumption of military strikes was “highly unlikely” if negotiations made progress and both sides signed a “strong agreement”.
However, Trump said the US had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it could strike if it resumed military action.
The US military has continued limited strikes against Iran, including attacks on its air defences, at least twice over the past week.
It also fired on and disabled a commercial ship on Saturday that Washington said was attempting to breach its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Rubio acknowledged that the US would continue taking defensive action if required.
“If there's a clear and present threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves,” he said.