'They're Attacking Our Embassies Directly': Rubio Highlights Iranian Missile Salvos as U.S. Urges Citizens to Leave Middle East

Latest Developments

Rubio Defends Strikes, Warns of Iran’s Potential Capabilities: Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a March 2 press conference to imagine the capabilities Iran could have had a year from now if the United States and Israel did not attack, calling the risk unacceptable. “They’re attacking our embassies directly. They’re attacking facilities that have nothing to do with war or with military, and that’s a weakened Iran,” said Rubio. The top U.S. diplomat was at the Capitol to brief the Gang of Eight — a group of Senate leaders and Intelligence committee members tasked with receiving intelligence briefings. Rubio stated that the objective of the operation was to destroy the regime’s ballistic missile capability and its ability to produce them, rather than regime change, but “we would not be heartbroken” were the regime defeated.
State Department Calls on U.S. Nationals to Depart: The State Department urged Americans in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East to “DEPART NOW” via commercial transportation “due to serious safety risks” as the war against Iran nears its fourth day. The countries listed by the department included Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
U.S. Evacuates Jordanian Embassy as Strikes on Iran’s Regime Continue: The U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, announced that it was temporarily evacuating all personnel from the compound “due to a threat.” Later, Reuters reported that a fire had broken out at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh after two explosions were heard. Meanwhile, strikes continued against the Islamic Republic, with the IDF announcing that it had dropped dozens of munitions to destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) complex in Tehran, stating that it promoted the regime’s military operations on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

FDD Expert Response

“There is no great surprise in the State Department advisory. Foreign Ministries are obliged to err on the side of caution whenever their citizens could be at risk. Iran has retaliated, widening the scope of the conflict in the Middle East, and has a track record of sponsoring both terrorist attacks and kidnappings of Western nationals. Many of the countries in question also have populations that contain a high proportion of expatriates, including Americans. Iran’s capacity to lash out is probably diminishing day-on-day but the possibility of local anger or volatility is another unpredictable factor. It would be wrong at this stage to be complacent about U.S. citizens’ wellbeing in the region.” — Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Fellow

“Secretary Rubio briefed Congress that Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles, growing ICBM capability, and its ability and track record of supplying these lethal tools to its proxies is a national security threat to the United States. Multiple administrations have worked to contain this threat through sanctions and diplomatic pressure, but have largely failed to address the challenge these weapons pose to U.S. service members in the region and our allies. Iran’s direct attacks on U.S. forces number in the thousands in just the past decade. The Administration must now make the case to Congress that there is a strategy in place to solidify the gains reached by this operation and that there is a plan in place to block Iran from reconstituting its missile arsenal.” — Tyler Stapleton, Senior Director of Government Relations, FDD Action