U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries in the region demonstrate the threat that the Islamic Republic poses to global stability.
Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony for U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, the secretary said that Iran is “trying to hold the world hostage.”
“They are attacking neighboring countries, their energy infrastructure, their civilian population. They’re attacking embassies,” Rubio said. “The objective of this mission is to destroy their ability to continue to do that, and we are well on our way to achieving that objective.”
Iran has launched thousands of missiles and drones at countries around the Middle East since the United States and Israel began combat operations on Feb. 28.
Much of that effort has been directed against the United Arab Emirates and other energy producers around the Persian Gulf as part of an apparent Iranian attempt to spike global oil prices.
The two most commonly used oil commodity benchmarks traded at just under $100 a barrel on Monday, up from around $65 a month ago.
Rubio said that the U.S. military is degrading Iran’s ability to carry out those attacks.
“Every single day, this regime in Iran has less missiles, less launchers, their factories work less, and their navy is being eviscerated,” he said. “The world is going to be a safer and a better place when this mission is accomplished.”
Rubio also highlighted Iran’s history of taking American citizens hostage, going back to the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
“We have to make sure that Americans are no longer viewed as targets of opportunity around the world, and nation-states and terroristic regimes like the one in Iran know that there are consequences for doing that,” the secretary said. “We have to end that cycle.”
