Iran dropped a self-imposed cap on the range of its missiles Sunday, discarding a restriction that had held its arsenal to 2,000 kilometers, or about 1,240 miles.
Nobody outside Iran had set that ceiling. Tehran imposed it on itself.
The Iranian government also threatened new weapons.
The announcement landed immediately after the U.S. military launched a new task force. The unit’s mission centers on curtailing Tehran’s weapons shipments and illicit trade.
The task force is new, and Iran’s announcement followed it directly.
Those developments unfolded on the same day that top American officials were publicly discussing the war’s reception at home.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took on that subject in Florida, his home state, just before boarding a flight to Paris for a meeting with Group of 7 foreign ministers.
Fox News reported that Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s decision to start the war while acknowledging the choice was unpopular and likely led to Republican losses in the midterm elections.
The Independent reported that Rubio fielded questions about Vice President JD Vance before he left the state.
After the elections, Vance had posted on social media that the war was to blame for the GOP’s losses.
According to the Independent, Vance’s comments pointed to the Iran war as a major factor in those defeats.
Rubio did not back away from the war itself. He called the decision “necessary,” and said Trump had been confronting a “very real threat,” at the time the war began.
He then widened his answer to cover how presidents handle dangers to national security.
“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country-confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country-doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said of Trump’s decision.
Put simply, Rubio argued that the right course on security is sometimes the less popular one.
Voters heard something different from Trump on the campaign trail. His run for a second White House term rested on a promise of “no new wars.”
Trump has acknowledged that the war led to the midterm losses. In an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday, he said he is not looking to escalate the conflict.
The president also took questions from reporters Sunday and offered his own view of how history will judge the decision.
“if I had to do it again, this historically—for history—will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” he said.
He then gave his reasoning.
“because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world,” Trump added.
The exchange placed three of the administration’s most prominent voices on the record about the war: Vance through his post, Rubio in Florida, and Trump through his interview and remarks to reporters.
Rubio also gave an update on the diplomatic track. Talks between Iran and the United States, he said, are not making much progress.
“I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” he said.
He then pointed to what Tehran is asking for.
“Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic,” Rubio said.
Sunday’s events spanned the military, diplomatic and political fronts. Iran lifted its missile limit and threatened new weapons.
The U.S. military started a task force aimed at Iranian arms shipments. Rubio and Trump defended the war, and negotiations stayed stalled.
Rubio’s Paris meeting with Group of 7 foreign ministers followed his remarks in Florida.
