As the United States continues to reinforce its military posture in the Middle East, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hinted at the possibility of a preemptive strike against Iran, where anti-government protests have been raging for several weeks.
Testifying before the Senate on Wednesday, Rubio said the Donald Trump administration’s decision to strengthen US military assets in the region was a “prudent step” aimed at protecting more than 30,000 American service members stationed across the Middle East.
“I think it's wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what's going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against 1000s of American servicemen and other facilities in the region. And our allies,” Rubio said. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but what you’re seeing now is the positioning of assets to defend against what could be an Iranian threat to our personnel.”
The state secretary described Iran as “weaker than it has ever been”, but warned that Tehran has accumulated “thousands and thousands” of long-range ballistic missiles, underscoring the continued security risks posed by the country.
🚨🇺🇸BREAKING: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: The Iranian regime is weaker now than at any time in the past.
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱 (@EliAfriatISR) January 28, 2026
The regime has no way to address the substance of the protesters' claims regarding their collapsing economy. pic.twitter.com/vvqTIFIalj
His remarks came a day after President Donald Trump issued a renewed warning to Iran, urging it to pursue a deal while drawing attention to the ongoing buildup of US military forces in the region.
“By the way, there’s another beautiful armada floating toward Iran right now. So we’ll see. I hope they make a deal,” Trump said during an event in Clive on Tuesday.
An aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, along with supporting warships, has already arrived in the Middle East amid Trump’s repeated warnings of possible military intervention if Iran continues its violent crackdown on protesters.
