Reporter to Rubio: “Are China And Russia Giving Targeting Info To Iran? These Last Few Attacks Have Been Devastating”
Secretary Marco Rubio did not give a solid “no” when asked at the ASEAN summit in Manila whether China and Russia are giving targeting information to Iran, considering their “last few attacks have been very devastating to U.S. troops.”
REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, are China and Russia giving targeting information to Iran? These last few attacks have been very devastating to U.S. troops. SECRETARY MARCO RUBIO: Look, all I would say is that anytime you’re in a combat zone like that, there’s danger associated with it. In the end, this actually proves the point that this is what Iran has been investing its money in for the last 20 years. REPORTER: What about Russian targeting information? SECRETARY MARCO RUBIO: I’m not going to discuss that, other than to say that nothing China has done has in any way changed the trajectory of what you’re seeing in terms of the conflict we’re having with Iran. In fact, in some cases, they’ve actually been quite cooperative with regard to things they potentially could have done but didn’t do. I think the Chinese-and I’ll let them speak for themselves-are not big fans of what Iran is trying to do in the strait. They have publicly said they oppose tolling or any other restraint on freedom of navigation through the strait. We hope they’ll continue to say that. It’s important that other countries say that as well. REPORTER: The president was asked a similar question. Is the U.S. strategy to strike Iran into submission? Why do you think Iran is not giving in right now? SECRETARY MARCO RUBIO: Iran is in a lot of trouble. They obviously don’t have a free press that reports on the impact this is having. You guys report on the impact on the U.S. economy, gas prices and other things. They don’t have that in Iran. But I can tell you they’re facing hyperinflation, runaway inflation and high food costs. These problems were all preexisting, and they’ve all gotten worse. They’ve suffered a tremendous amount of damage to their military infrastructure. But they also spent 20 years taking every penny they had and not spending it on their country. They spent it sponsoring terrorist groups and building up their missiles and drone systems. What you’re now seeing them use-which has been greatly diminished-is exactly the conventional shield they intended to hide behind while pursuing a nuclear program. They wanted to challenge the world to do anything about it or face the wrath of those weapons. A year from now, Iran would have had so many missiles and drones that it would have been behind a conventional shield that gave it immunity to do whatever it wanted. Right now, however, what’s happening is pretty straightforward. Commercial ships are trying to go through the Strait of Hormuz, and they’re being blown up. The United States is defending that shipping. We are also targeting the places launching attacks against those ships and continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to target and harm global shipping. That’s what’s happening here, and that’s what we’re focused on.
