On Monday, March 9th, US Secretary of State Rubio stated that the US is steadily progressing towards destroying Iran’s capability to threaten neighboring countries and the world with missiles, and this momentum is unstoppable. He emphasized that Iran is attempting to hold the world hostage through retaliatory airstrikes.
During a commemorative ceremony held at the State Department on Monday, Rubio delivered a speech. The ceremony aimed to honor American citizens wrongly detained by several countries, including Iran. Rubio stated that the ongoing airstrikes by the US are aimed at destroying Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile, production capacity, and launch capability.
“We are steadily moving towards achieving this goal,” he remarked. He further added that the realization of this goal is “unstoppable and incredibly precise.”
Meanwhile, Rubio accused Iran of “holding hostage” the world through retaliatory airstrikes and reiterated that the US is progressing towards its wartime objectives as planned.
“I believe we are now witnessing the threat posed by this religious regime to the region and the world. They are attempting to hold the entire world hostage,” the Secretary of State said.
“They are attacking neighboring countries, targeting their energy infrastructure, and attacking civilians,” he added.
Rubio reiterated that the objective of the US actions is to destroy Iran’s capacity for wrongdoing and is steadily advancing towards this goal.
On February 28th, the US and Israel jointly launched a military attack on Iran, resulting in the killing of Iran’s long-time supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Subsequently, Iran launched a significant number of missiles and drones towards Israel and at least 12 Gulf countries. Iranian missiles also reached NATO member Turkey and the UK base in Cyprus.
Also present at the event honoring American hostages on the 9th was the family of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who went missing on Kish Island, Iran, in 2007.
In 2020, the US confirmed Levinson’s death and implicated the Iranian government in his killing.
Rubio stated that Levinson’s case “especially reminds us of the kind of regime we face in Tehran.”
He said, “Unfortunately, their regime is built on attacks against our brave diplomats and officials.”
He referred to the events following the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution when supporters of Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the US-allied Shah regime and held hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran.