US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: U.S. Department of State, public domain.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that further American military action against Iran is unnecessary, arguing that the economic pressure Washington is inflicting on Tehran has already weakened the Islamic Republic so severely that more strikes would add nothing.
Rubio made the remarks in a keynote speech to the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention in Washington on November 13, in the most detailed public statement yet from a senior administration official on where the US-Israeli war against Iran stands after the midterm elections.
"No Need for Military Action"
Asked by a law student what an American victory in the confrontation with Iran would look like, Rubio was blunt.
"And right now, frankly, the economic pain that we are inflicting on that regime is so great that there's no need for military action because we've weakened them so much," he said. "But I think victory is ensuring that they never have a nuclear weapon."
"No war is popular," Rubio added, acknowledging the political cost of the conflict at home.
His comments reinforced a statement by President Donald Trump earlier in the week that the war "militarily is effectively over." Trump has also declared in recent days that the United States no longer needs a deal with Tehran, leaving allies and mediators guessing about Washington's endgame as the president prepares to leave Monday for a four-day trip to Asia.
Economic Pain at Home — and in Tehran
Rubio's speech came days after voters delivered heavy losses to Republicans in the midterm elections, with economic pain cited as a central issue. Many Republican lawmakers and strategists have blamed rising costs from the Iran war for their poor showings, and Rubio did not shy away from that reality.
"I think we have to recognize that people are struggling. There's no doubt about it," he told the conservative audience. "The health of their economy is whether they have enough money to be able to afford the things they need."
President Trump often points to the stock market as evidence that the economy is doing well. Rubio drew a contrast, arguing that household finances — not share prices — are the real measure of economic health.
At the same time, Rubio defended the Iran war as necessary to stop the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and argued that the campaign of sanctions and a US naval blockade restricting Iranian trade is collapsing the Iranian economy. He said on November 10 that the pressure was growing, reducing the need for major combat operations.
The Blockade Stays in Place
Rubio's remarks do not amount to an announcement that the confrontation has ended, or that Washington has ruled out future military action. The US Navy's blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, and the administration has not said what diplomatic arrangement, if any, it would accept — or how it would verify that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon.
The fighting has not stopped entirely. The US military said it intercepted two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, while Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it struck a US early warning radar system in the kingdom. Iran also said a tanker struck a naval mine while attempting to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, for its part, warned on Friday at the United Nations that any renewed attack would draw an "immediate and decisive response," according to reports of the Security Council session, where Iran's deputy ambassador, Gholamhossein Darzi, addressed the council.
For now, Rubio has made the administration's position clear: economic pressure, not more bombs, is doing the work — and in the secretary's view, it is working.
Sources: Associated Press; The Times of Israel; The Washington Sun