Marco Rubio to Congress on Iran: 'Hardest Hits Are Yet to Come'

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke briefly with the press to provide them with an update on the situation in and over Iran. This came on the heels of Mr. Rubio's briefing of the Congressional Gang of Eight, when he updated them on progress in Operation Epic Fury. Some highlights follow.

First, as for why the operation was launched now:

.@SecRubio: "This operation needed to happen because Iran, in about a year... they would have so many short-range missiles, so many drones, that no one could do anything about it... look at the damage they're doing now— and this is a weakened Iran. Imagine a year from now." https://t.co/JI2PyMK99F pic.twitter.com/EKOdTanPtV
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 2, 2026

Secretary Rubio said:

Number One is, no matter what, ultimately, this operation needed to happen. That's the question of why now. But this operation needed to happen. Because Iran, in about a year or a year and a half, would cross the line of immunity, meaning they would have so many short-range missiles, so many drones, that no one could do anything about it. Because they could hold the whole world hostage. Look at the damage they're doing now. And this is a weakened Iran. Imagine a year from now. So that had to happen. Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it. But this had to happen no matter what.

The interesting bit that Secretary Rubio lets slip here, perhaps intentionally? "...we were aware of Israeli intentions." Does that mean that Israel intended to hit Iran, with or without American help? Of course, without American help, powerful as Israel is, it would have been much more difficult.

Here's another interesting statement from Secretary Rubio:

.@SecRubio: "The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now... The world will be a safer place when we're done with this operation." pic.twitter.com/vguq6BHYlt
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 2, 2026

Again, Secretary Rubio said:

They're suffering a tremendous amount of damage. Honestly - and again, I'm not going to give away the details of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now. Someone was screaming how long will it take, I don't know how long it will take, we have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes to achieve those objectives. And we will achieve those objectives. The world will be a safer place when we're done with this operation.

The hardest hits are yet to come. Iran's navy, such as it was, is gone. Their air force, likewise. The Supreme Leader is now a collection of Supreme Spare Parts. Most of the senior military and regime leadership have been un-alived, their key military installations are rubble, and the hardest hits are still coming. That's interesting. And, yes, if this regime can be ousted once and for all, if a modern, representative government can be established by the Iranian people, that will change not only the Middle East but the world.

Priceless: Viral Video Appears to Show Kuwaiti Rescuing Grateful US Pilot Downed by Friendly Fire

Finally, on the objective of Operation Epic Fury:

.@SecRubio: "The bottom line is no matter who governs that country a year from now, they're not going to have these ballistic missiles and they're not going to have these drones to threaten us. That's the objective of this mission." pic.twitter.com/dYrzUWt340
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 2, 2026

We would love to see this regime be replaced. And ultimately, as the president has said... (unintelligible call from the press) No, let me finish my answer. As the president said, he would love for the people of Iran to use this as an opportunity to rise up and remove these leaders. They've been wanting to remove them for a long time. We've seen successive waves of protests. And we've seen them slaughter people. But the objective of this mission is to make sure they don't have these weapons that can threaten us and our allies in the region. That's why we're doing what we're doing now. And while we would love to see a new regime, the bottom line is, no matter who governs that country, a year from now, they're not going to have these ballistic missiles, and they're not going to have these drones to threaten us. That's the objective of this mission. It's to deny them the ability to use ballistic missiles to threaten their neighbors, to threaten our bases, to threaten our presence in the region, and ultimately as a shield behind which they can do whatever they want with their nuclear weapons ambition. We were not going to let them hide behind that. And that's why this was such a critical mission to undertake now, while they were at their weakest point, and not a year from now, where they could inflict even more damage and perhaps already be behind that point of immunity.

Disarmament of Iran, then, according to what is official American policy, as stated by the Secretary of State, is the primary goal of this mission, with giving the people of Iran the opportunity to take their country back being the secondary concern. That's understandable, perhaps, from the national security standpoint. From the human standpoint, from the standpoint of civilization, it would seem necessary, indeed, vital, to end the theocracy in Iran once and for all - which would also resolve the weapons problem.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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