Rubio suggests US strikes on Iran influenced by Israeli plans | Israel-Iran conflict news

The Secretary of State says he hopes the Iranian people will overthrow the regime as the US military says six servicemen have been killed.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that the planned Israeli attack against Iran will determine the timing of Washington’s attack against the government in Tehran.

A top United States diplomat told reporters on Monday that Washington knew Israel was about to attack Iran and that Tehran would retaliate against US interests in the region, so American forces preemptively attacked.

“We knew there was an Israeli move. We knew it would provoke an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t proactively go after them before they launched that attack, we would suffer more casualties,” Rubio said.

The US secretary of state’s comments came minutes before the US military confirmed that the death toll from the conflict had risen to six after two bodies were recovered from a regional facility hit by Iran.

Tehran retaliated against the joint US-Israeli attack that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, several top officials and hundreds of civilians with drone and missile launches across the region, including against US bases and assets in the Gulf.

Rubio’s assertion highlights Israel’s role in bringing about the war that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought for years.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said the attacks on Iran were being carried out with the help of his “friend” US President Donald Trump.

“This union of forces will enable us to do what I have longed to do for 40 years,” the Israeli prime minister said in a video message.

For his part, Rubio told reporters on Monday that the attack on Iran was necessary because Tehran was stockpiling missiles and drones that could be used to protect its nuclear program and acquire a nuclear bomb.

Israel and the US went to war less than 48 hours after a round of talks between American and Iranian officials over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Rubio said the goal of the war was to destroy Iran’s missile and drone programs, but stressed that the US would welcome an end to the current regime in Tehran.

“We are not discouraged, and we hope that the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish a new future for that country. We would love for that to happen,” he said.