Marco Rubio says the United States struck Iran after learning Israel was preparing to launch its own military attack. And that explanation has people asking real questions.
Speaking to reporters on March 2, Rubio said U.S. intelligence indicated Israel was about to carry out a strike against Iran. Because of that, Rubio said American officials believed Iran would retaliate quickly and that U.S. forces in the region would likely be targeted in response.
So, according to Rubio, Washington moved first.
He described the situation as an imminent threat to American personnel. The concern, he explained, was not that Iran was about to bomb Israel unprovoked. Instead, the fear was that once Israel attacked, Iran would respond and that response would hit U.S. troops and assets.
Rubio said the United States struck because officials believed Israel’s action would trigger Iranian retaliation that could cost American lives.
However, that explanation has not gone unchallenged. Lawmakers who were briefed after the strikes have publicly questioned whether there was concrete evidence that Iran was planning to directly target U.S. forces before any Israeli action.
International war crimes.
What? So the ‘preemptive threat’ was based on prior knowledge that (presumably) Israel was going to attack Iran? This is nuts. https://t.co/n2knj15Qyr
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 2, 2026
