A BBC Arabic report stated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional committee that the Iranian government may be “weaker than ever” and that its economy is “facing collapse,” predicting a return of protests to the streets.
According to a BBC Arabic report, Rubio added: “No one knows” who would take power if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were removed from office.
He indicated that the situation would be “more complicated” than in Venezuela and would require “a great deal of careful consideration.” He also added that the United States “might launch a preemptive strike” against Iran to protect American forces in the region.
This comes amid a US military buildup, after US President Donald Trump said he had sent a large naval fleet led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East.
Iran warns of immediate and strong response
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Wednesday that his country would “respond immediately and forcefully” to any US military action.
Araghchi’s statement comes after President Donald Trump said that time is running out to avoid a similar scenario, without ruling out the possibility of reaching a new agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Islamic Republic’s top diplomat wrote on the X platform: “Our valiant armed forces are ready – with their fingers on the trigger – to respond immediately and forcefully to any aggression from land, sea, and air”.
He added: “At the same time, Iran has always welcomed a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable nuclear agreement – on an equal footing, and without coercion, threat or intimidation – that guarantees Iran’s rights to peaceful nuclear technology, and ensures the absence of nuclear weapons.”
He continued: “Such weapons have no place in our security calculations and we have never sought to possess them,” reiterating Tehran’s persistent assertion, which is doubted by Western capitals, that its nuclear program focuses exclusively on research and development of civilian energy.
US forces are massing in the region
Reports indicate that the number of US naval vessels in the region has risen to 10, with the arrival of a new aircraft carrier strike group, significantly bolstering the military capabilities at Trump’s disposal should he decide to launch an attack on Iran.
A US official told AFP that the total number of American ships deployed in the Middle East had reached 10. This includes the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which comprises three destroyers and F-35C stealth fighters.
There are also six US warships active in the region: three destroyers and three littoral combat ships.
The number of ships that the United States is deploying in the Middle East is now approaching the number that Washington deployed in the Caribbean before the swift military operation carried out by US forces, which led to the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump had warned Iran against failing to come to the negotiating table and reach an agreement on nuclear weapons, stressing that any future US attack would be “much worse”.
Trump says time is running out
Reuters quoted Trump as saying in a post, “We hope Iran will quickly come to the negotiating table to reach a fair and equitable agreement—no nuclear weapons, an agreement that is in the interest of all parties. Time is running out”.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a warning via a post on the X platform, stating that any US military action, regardless of its level, would be considered a “declaration of war and would be met with an immediate response”.
Shamkhani added that “a limited strike is just an illusion,” stressing that Iran’s response will be “comprehensive and unprecedented,” and will target “the aggressor and the heart of Tel Aviv”.
The spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naeini, warned the United States as the US fleet moved toward the Persian Gulf, stressing that Iran was ready for “all enemy scenarios”.
Naeini referred to the 12-day war with Israel in June 2015, stressing that the experience proved “the failure of the military option against Iran,” and added: “Our armed forces are the ones who determine the end of the battle”.
