Secretary of State Marco Rubio on U.S. striking Iran and defending other countries from Iran
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday, answering questions about the United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
When asked if any Iran retaliation is known at this time, Secretary Rubio responded saying "they should choose the route of peace."
"We have been...we've done everything. We have bent over backwards, okay, to create a deal with these people. Steve Witkoff has traveled the world extensively, met with them...well not even met with them, met through the Omanis with them, and discussed back and forth. We even put an offer to them that they wanted elements of it in writing, and we offered it to them, very generous offer by the way. We've done, and we're prepared right now. If they call right now and say, we want to meet, let's talk about this. We're prepared to do that. The President's made that clear from the very beginning. His preference is to deal with is to deal with this issue diplomatically, but he also told them we had 60 days to make progress or something else was going to happen. And I think they thought they were dealing with a different kind of leader, like the kinds of leaders they've been playing games with for the last 30 or 40 years. And they found out that's not the case. So this mission was a very precise mission. It had three objectives, three nuclear sites. It was not attack on Iran. It was not an attack on the Iranian people. This wasn't a regime change move. This was designed to degrade and, or  destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday. What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next. If they choose the path of diplomacy, we're ready. We can do a deal that's good for them, the Iranian people and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that."
Sec. Marco Rubio
During the interview, Brennan asked Rubio if the U.S. will defend other countries who are associated with them from Iran, to which Rubio said, "Do you know why we have bases in Bahrain and Qatar and UAE and in all these places? All those bases are there because those countries are afraid that Iran will attack them."
Rubio also added, "We're prepared to do that, but we'll do more than just defend we'll impose costs on Iran if they attack American personnel, whether they do it directly, or whether they do it through some of these proxies that they try to hide behind, and that includes the Houthis...another proxy of theirs."
However, Rubio said he hopes Iran "doesn't choose that route," and hopes they can negotiate with the U.S.
"We want a diplomatic and peaceful solution. We have achieved our objectives. We're ready to negotiate this in a peaceful, diplomatic way. We've been prepared to do that for days. They are the ones that played games, as they have done for 40 years, as they have done to multiple presidents. They tried to play games with President Trump, and they see what happens. This is not a game-playing president. When he says he's going to do something, he will do it."
Sec. Marco Rubio
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Rubio, click here.
