Marco Rubio defends the offensive against the Iranian regime by assuring that "There was an imminent threat"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Iran posed an "imminent threat" to the United States following the recent military action in the region that culminated in the death of Ayatollah Alli Khamenei, in what represented a historic event that may mark a before and after in the Middle East. "There absolutely was an imminent threat, and the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us," Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill.

The secretary of state also pointed to a Defense Department assessment that the Islamic theocracy was preparing an operation against U.S. targets that could have caused "more casualties and more deaths" on both the U.S. and Israeli sides, which was also part of the historic offensive that killed the ayatollah. "We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage," explained Rubio, who also detailed that Iran's missile units in both the south and north of the country had already been activated and positioned to fire within an hour of the initial U.S. strike against the regime's leadership.

The secretary of state's remarks came just hours after FBI director Kash Patel announced that the agency was working "24/7" to prevent terrorist attacks in the country after the start of the conflict with Iran. Through a statement posted on his X account, Patel reported that he ordered each of the internal teams in charge of counterterrorism and intelligence work to be "on high alert" with the goal "to address and disrupt any potential threats to the homeland."

"FBI personnel are fully engaged on the situation overseas. Last night I instructed our Counterterrorism and intelligence teams to be on high alert and mobilize all assisting security assets needed," the agency's director wrote. "Our JTTFs throughout the country are working 24/7, as always, to address and disrupt any potential threats to the homeland."