JD Vance and Marco Rubio agree on the motives for the war.Image: keystone
Since the USA launched its attack on Iran alongside Israel, the US government’s justifications and objectives have caused a lot of confusion. Now they seem to have agreed on a common narrative.
03/03/2026, 07:5303/03/2026, 08:11
Destruction of the Iranian weapons arsenal, prevention of a future nuclear weapon in the hands of mullahs, and a change of power would be nice, but not the first priority: US representatives now seem to have agreed on these goals. At least that’s what statements made by Marco Rubio, JD Vance and Mike Johnson, three leading figures from Donald Trump’s inner circle, suggest on Tuesday night (Swiss time). Both Trump and his ministers previously announced contradictory and always different reasons and goals for the attack.
The Trump Republicans have now declared war on these things:
Marco Rubio
The reason for this is closely linked to the goals of the intervention. This is what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists on Tuesday night: They knew that Israel would carry out a strike against Iran. If that had happened, the Iranians would inevitably have attacked US targets in the region, even if they were not involved in the strike, according to the US government’s theory.
“The immediate danger was that we knew that if Iran was attacked – and we assumed it would be attacked – it would immediately move against us.”
That’s why they decided to join Israel’s “pre-emptive strike.”
“We acted proactively in a defensive manner to prevent them (Iran, editor) from causing greater damage.”
So far, six US soldiers have died since the outbreak of war; they were hit by Iranian missiles in Kuwait.
Marco Rubio.Image: keystone
JD Vance
The US Vice President has also commented on the war intentions. He told Fox News that in a “perfect world” the US would welcome someone who was willing to cooperate with the US coming to power in Iran. Trump’s primary goal is that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. Ultimately, what happens to the leadership in Tehran is irrelevant, says Vance.
Trump had also cited this perspective as a reason for starting the attacks. He later also spoke of regime change before backtracking on Monday night and describing a Venezuela scenario as a “perfect” option. In Venezuela, the head of the regime, Nicolas Maduro, was eliminated, but the existing government subsequently showed itself willing to cooperate with the USA. If Vance has his way, Trump’s “perfect scenario” now seems unrealistic.
Mike Johnson
Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson justified the attack on Iran in a similar way to Marco Rubio.
“Israel was determined to act in its own defense here, with or without American support.”
He said after a briefing that the US government had to make a difficult decision because of Israel’s determination to attack. Johnson said he was convinced that the US government had done the right thing.
“The goal was not regime change.”
Rather, the focus is on destroying Iran’s missile program and navy, Johnson supported JD Vance’s argument.
What is interesting in the context of Johnson and Rubio’s statements: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contradicted the representation that Israel had essentially forced the USA to act. When asked by Fox News whether he had “dragged” US President Donald Trump into the war, the Israeli leader laughed and said it was “ridiculous.” «Donald Trump is the strongest leader in the world. “He’s doing what he thinks is right for America,” said Netanyahu. (con/sda/dpa)
Mike Johnson.Image: keystone