The radical Islamist regime in Iran is “probably weaker than it has ever been” as its economy collapses and civilians turn against the Ayatollah for spending Tehran’s funds on supporting terrorism over people, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday — while Trump announced he dispatched a “massive armada” toward the crumbling empire.
“The core problem they face,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “unlike the protests you saw in the past on some other topics, [Iran’s leaders] don’t have a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy is in collapse.
“The reason why their economy is in collapse is because they spend all their money and all their resources building weapons and sponsoring terrorist groups around the world, instead of reinvesting it back into their society — and as a result of taking on massive global sanctions, which has isolated their economy and their country.”
President Trump seized on that weakness on Jan. 13, announcing 25% tariffs on any country doing business with Iran after the regime murdered thousands of protesters despite his warning not to kill the dissidents.
“The new sanctions imposed on the Iranian regime are further proof that President Trump has a wide array of options at his disposal to address the situation in Iran,” a White House official said.
Protesters have simply been demanding that the regime “start caring about them,” according to Rubio.
Rubio’s bleak assessment of the conditions in Iran dovetails with a report from the New York Times that President Trump received classified briefings concluding that Iran is the weakest it has been since the 1979 revolution, even though the mass protests that rocked the country in recent weeks have subsided.
The demonstrations that gripped nearly every major city in Iran began last month and had been among the largest since the 1979 revolution.
At least 6,126 protesters are confirmed to have been killed by the regime, with another 17,091 fatalities still being verified, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network of sources inside Iran. Another 41,880 people have been detained by authorities, per the same outlet.
Precise projections of the death toll vary, with two senior health officials in Iran estimating that more than 30,000 people were killed on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, according to Time magazine. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had reportedly issued shoot-to-kill orders earlier this month to curtail the demonstrations.
Trump warned on Jan. 2 that if the regime “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
Thus far, he’s refrained from taking military action against Iran, though on Wednesday, the president announced he dispatched an “armada” led by the Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier near Iran and warned that time was running out.
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“A massive Armada is heading to Iran,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela.”
“Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” he added. “Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties.”
“Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”
Rubio said the build-up is needed because Iran has restocked its ballistic missile reserves after the 12-day war with Israel last year, and the US has a responsibility to protect the tens of thousands of American troops in the Middle East, as well as regional partners.
“We have 30 to 40,000 American troops stationed across eight or nine facilities in that region. All are within the reach … of an array of thousands of Iranian one-way UAVs and Iranian short-range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence,” he said. “I think it’s wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond.”
“We also have security agreements, the defense of Israel plan and others, that require us to have a force posture in the region to defend against that,” he added.
Trump “hopes that no action will be necessary” but has been “clear about the Iranian regime should make a deal ‘before it is too late,’” a White House official said, without specifying what “deal” is sought.
“He has also been clear about the consequences for the Iranian regime if it murders protesters,” the person said. “The president has demonstrated with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Absolute Resolve that he means what he says.”
The secretary described the US military presence as “enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility,” adding that Trump is not required to wait to direct strikes until after Iran launches a missile.
“The president always reserves the preemptive defensive option,” he said.
For its part, Iran’s government shrugged off Trump’s deployment in the region.
Tehran’s mission to the United Nations chided that the “last time the US blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives.”
“Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests—BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!” the mission added in a post on X.
During his wide-ranging testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio also cautioned that there are many unknowns if there was every regime change in Iran.
“No one knows who would take over” if Khamenei, 86, loses power, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned. “Obviously, their system is divided between the supreme leader and the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] that responds directly to him.
“You’ve got these, you know, quasi-elected individuals, the ones who wear the suits on television, who are part of their political branches, but ultimately have to run everything they do by the supreme leader.”
