U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that planned Israeli military action against Iran, which he said would have triggered retaliation against American forces, prompted the United States to launch strikes over the weekend against Tehran.
“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 preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters before a closed-door briefing for members of Congress on the operation in Iran.
The United States and Israel began a bombing campaign Saturday that Defense Minister Israel Katz described as “preemptive.”
Iran has denounced the U.S. assault as unprovoked, saying it took place while Tehran and Washington were engaged in talks, mediated by Oman, over Iran’s nuclear program.
President Donald Trump has said the United States faced an imminent threat from Iran that justified the military action, including the need to neutralize Iran’s ballistic missile program. Some U.S. lawmakers said Trump has not provided evidence to support that assessment.