Rubio contradicts Trump on why US entered Iran war, backtracks on 'Israeli plans' remark

Marco Rubio appeared to contradict himself over why the US attacked Iran, after Trump suggested he may have “forced” Israel’s hand. Rubio earlier cited Israeli plans for a preemptive strike but later denied that claim. The mixed messaging has fueled speculation

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemingly backtracked and contradicted himself when confronted about his explanation for attacking Iran. On Tuesday (Mar 3), after US President Donald Trump's Oval House statement that he might have dragged Israel into this war, Rubio was asked by reporters to explain his statement in which he indicated that the US launched the war because Israel was going to strike Iran. Rubio denied saying any such thing and shot back, saying “your statement is false…were you there yesterday?" He said, “Somebody asked me did we go because of Israel and I said no. I said this had to happen anyway.” WATCH what he said

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Mar 3) suggested that he might have forced Israel into war with Iran. He said that it was he who felt Iran was going to attack first. Speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said that the US was negotiating with “lunatics” and he might have “forced” Israel into this war. “No, I might have forced their hands. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [the Iranians] were going to attack first,” Trump claimed.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday (Mar 3) that America attacked Iran “preemptively” after knowing about Israel's plans. “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," he said. "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio added. Rubio said that Iran had told field commanders to respond automatically against US forces if there was an attack. "If we stood and waited for that attack to come first before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties. And so the president made the very wise decision" to hit alongside Israel, Rubio said.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu defended pre-emptive strikes on Iran, saying Tehran was months away from securing its nuclear program but Trump administration has not yet issued any statements regarding his claims. When asked to Netanyahu if he dragged US into the war, he laughed off saying, “That’s ridiculous. Donald Trump is the strongest leader in the world. He does what he thinks is right for America. He does also what he thinks is right for future generations.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that it is now proven that America is fighting Israel's war. Slamming his American counterpart Marco Rubio’s justification for attacking Tehran, Araghchi said that there was never anything called the “Iranian threat.” In a post on X, Araghchi said, “Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: US has entered a war of choice on behalf of Israel. There was never any so-called Iranian ‘threat'. Shedding of both American and Iranian blood is thus on Israel Firsters. American people deserve better and should take back their country."

Conflicting statements from time to time has fueled speculations about US intentions and objective from the war. Trump's remark is not in line with what his Secretary of State said just a day ago, while Rubio backtracking from his earlier stance. The confusion over why the US administration does not have a clear-cut explanation for its decision to attack Iran increases and only provides weightage to Iran's accusations that the US is fighting Israel's war in the region.

*Disclaimer: *WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.