Marco Rubio: Pre-emptive strike on Iran isn’t wanted, but is possible

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the tens of thousands of American military service members in the Middle East, has told a Senate committee that a pre-emptive strike on Iran to protect those soldiers isn’t wanted, but is possible.

“And so 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, pre-emptively prevent the attack against thousands of American servicemen and other facilities in the region.” Rubio said.

A Just the News report said Rubio, who also is national security adviser, was appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week.

He was discussing America’s capture of illegitimate Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and other strategies.

President Donald Trump has been building up America’s military presence in the Middle East in recent weeks, citing the threats from Iran.

Rubio said that build-up is needed for the safety of the 30,000 American troops in the area.

Regarding a pre-emptive shot, he said, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s, I think, what you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel.”

RUBIO says TRUMP may act to attack Iran in “Preemptive Defense actions”
They have no plan if the Supreme leader is ” Removed” pic.twitter.com/a9Z8MeYvr7

— Ali (@MerruX) January 28, 2026

Rubio also confirmed the Iranian regime now is weaker than it ever has been.

Trump repeatedly has been offering to make a “deal” with Iran over its nuclear weapons aspirations.