Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran's refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program a "big problem" and an "unsustainable threat" to the American home front ahead of Thursday's indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, the third round this month between Washington and Tehran.
"Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases — in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain, and they also possess naval assets that threaten shipping and try to threaten the U.S. Navy," the top American diplomat said on Wednesday.
"So I want everybody to understand that beyond just a nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they choose to do so," Rubio continued.
Rubio delivered his warning about Iran's missile ambitions while speaking to reporters in a departure lounge at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis following meetings with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders.
The United States currently maintains around 30,000 – 40,000 troops in the Middle East region, The New York Times reported, including at bases operating near Iran.
Rubio has told lawmakers in recent weeks that Iranian missiles can reach about nine bases where U.S. forces are stationed. "They are all within range of a system comprising thousands of Iranian drones and short-range ballistic missiles threatening our force presence," Rubio told lawmakers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"These things have to be addressed. The negotiations tomorrow and the talks tomorrow will be largely focused on the nuclear program, and we hope progress can be made because that's the president's preference, to make progress on the diplomatic front," he asserted on Wednesday. "But it's also important to remember that Iran refuses to talk about the ballistic missiles to us or to anyone, and that's a big problem."
President Donald Trump again dispatched U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to meet indirectly with Iranian regime officials led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday.
Oman has been mediating the talks, the first of which took place in Muscat and the second round in Geneva.
After the U.S. and Iranian delegations were reported leaving the talks on Thursday afternoon, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the parties exchanged "creative and positive ideas in Geneva today."
"Both U.S. and Iranian negotiators have adjourned for a break. We'll resume later today. We hope to make more progress," he tweeted.
While Jerusalem insists that the Iranian regime's ballistic missile program, along with Tehran's regional terror proxies, both of which pose direct threats to Israel, be on the table during the talks, Rubio warned that the Islamic Republic is seeking to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the continental United States and already possesses weapons that can reach much of Europe.
The Trump administration official cited, as an example, the Iranian regime's attempts to launch satellites into space and to increase the range of its current missile stock, saying that the "ranges continue to grow exponentially."
Rubio expressed astonishment that the Iranian regime is able to invest so heavily in its ballistic missile program despite "facing sanctions, with an economy in tatters and a population that is suffering." He continued: "Somehow they still find the money to invest in missiles of greater and greater capacity every year. This is an unsustainable threat."
Rubio pointed to Trump's Tuesday night State of the Union address, saying the president had been "clear" that he "always prefers diplomacy." However, Rubio emphasized that "Iran poses a very grave threat to the United States and has for a very long time. They are in possession, first and foremost, after their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it and here they are, you can see ... trying to rebuild elements of it. They're not enriching right now but they're trying to get to the point where they ultimately can."
Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday about the upcoming Geneva talks that "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon; if they try to rebuild the nuclear weapon, that causes problems for us, and in fact we've seen evidence that they have tried to do exactly that. He stressed that Trump is sending the negotiating team to try to address that issue and reiterated that the president has said he prefers diplomacy, "but of course the president has other options as well."
Trump said at the State of the Union that Iran has not yet given up on its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The president told the assembled members of Congress, Supreme Court, the U.S. military, and his administration that the United States warned Iran not to attempt to rebuild its weapons programs after Operation Midnight Hammer in June.
"We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are at this moment again, pursuing their sinister ambitions," said Trump.
"We are in negotiations with them," he added. "They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.'"
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump prefers diplomacy as his first option but is prepared to use force if needed.
The Pentagon has assembled a massive U.S. air and naval buildup in the Middle East, the largest force buildup in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with two aircraft carrier strike groups and other warships, along with a large complement of U.S. combat and support aircraft, deployed to waters including the Arabian Sea and eastern Mediterranean.
This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.
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