Marco Rubio briefs US lawmakers on Iran as Trump uses State of the Union to threaten nuclear programme | Trump administration
Marco Rubio gave a rare briefing on Iran to senior US lawmakers just hours before Donald Trump used his State of the Union speech to say Tehran will never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Amid the largest deployment of aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the Iraq war in 2003, Trump said he wanted to resolve the conflict with Iran through diplomatic means, while claiming that Tehran was trying to develop ballistic missiles that could reach the United States, but did not provide further details.
“They have already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases abroad,” he said. “And they are working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States.”
“We are in talks with them,” he continued. “They want to make a deal. But we haven’t heard the secret words: We will never have nuclear weapons.”
US Secretary of State Rubio gave a classified briefing to the so-called “gang of eight”, which included senior lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate, as well as the chairmen and senior members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
The select group is briefed by the White House on classified intelligence matters that may include preparations for significant military action. Rubio last gave the group a public briefing on January 5, the day after the United States launched its successful operation to capture Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro.
The developments follow the arrival of the second US aircraft carrier, USS Gerald Ford – the largest such ship in the world. Analysts say that the United States is now in a position to launch an attack against Iran if instructed by Donald Trump.
Details of the report were kept secret and were not immediately made public. Leaving the briefing, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said: “This is a serious situation and the administration needs to explain this to the American people.”
“I’m very concerned,” said Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. “Wars in the Middle East are not going well for presidents and the country, and we have not heard a single good reason explained why it is time to start a new war in the Middle East.”
Rubio’s briefing took place just hours before Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, in which his foreign policy is expected to play a central role. Trump has demanded that Iran abandon its nuclear program, stop producing ballistic missiles and halt its support for overseas proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
US-Iran talks will be held in Geneva on Thursday. In an interview with NPR, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Iran was “ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible.”
“We want to do whatever it takes to make this happen,” he continued. But he added that the negotiations would only concern Iran’s nuclear program and that this was unlikely to satisfy the White House.
Last week, Trump said Iran would either make a deal or the United States would “have to go one step further,” adding that “really bad things” would happen to Iran and adding a 10-day time limit.
The United States also evacuated non-essential personnel from its embassy in Lebanon due to a “threat environment” assessment, and Rubio reportedly postponed his Saturday meeting with Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu until Monday, according to Israeli officials.
The Guardian and other media outlets reported that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, warned Trump that a conflict with Iran could severely deplete the US’s stockpile of anti-missile missiles, including Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and ship-launched interceptors.
Trump had reacted to erroneous reports claiming that Caine was “opposed to us going to war with Iran.” (The reports only stated that Caine warned Trump of the consequences of an attack.)
“General Caine, like the rest of us, does not want to see war, but he believes that if the decision is made to oppose Iran on a military level, it will be easily won,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Caine “didn’t talk about not doing Iran or any of the fake limited strikes I read about; he knows one thing, he knows how to WIN and if he is told to do it, he will lead the group”.
The Guardian had previously reported that Trump had not decided whether to attack Iran and that his decision would depend on the results of talks with senior Iranian officials in Geneva later this week. The US delegation will be led by his long-time friend and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Other key advisors include J.D. Vance, vice president; secretary of state Marco Rubio; CIA director John Ratcliffe; defense secretary Pete Hegseth; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump could either order a limited military strike aimed at influencing negotiations between Iran and the United States, or he could launch a much larger attack aimed at decapitating the Iranian government.
“We can go now,” said Charles Wald, a retired air force general and former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, who said the USS Gerald Ford’s arrival near Crete would provide additional capability to protect Israel from a potential Iranian counterattack.
Wald added that the military buildup and Trump’s ultimatums to Iran could eventually force it to take action.
“The problem is that Trump kind of implied a red line,” said Wald, who now serves as a distinguished fellow at the Jewish National Security Institute of America. “If they don’t accept the deal and do nothing, it will be twice as bad as if Obama did nothing about chemical weapons in Syria.”
