Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “no one knows” who would take over if Iran’s leader were removed.
The top U.S. diplomat was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee just after President Donald Trump issued new threats against Iran.
Rubio said if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to be removed, it would be a “far more complex” situation than what they were discussing in the hearing about Venezuela, “because you’re talking about a regime that’s in place for a very long time.”
He also said he did not think anyone could provide a simple answer for what would come next.
Rubio said the situation would require “a lot of careful thinking” if it ever came to pass.
The Secretary of State was grilled about Iran at a hearing slated to address Venezuela and the removal of Nicholas Maduro after Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday about sending an Armada to the Middle East.
“A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose,” Trump wrote. “It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela.”
The president claimed that, like with the forces sent off the coast of Venezuela, the strike group sent to the region is “ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”
The president then urged Iran to make a deal for “NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS” or face another attack after the strike carried out on three Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
“As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,“ Trump wrote.
Testifying before senators on Wednesday, Rubio defended sending forces to the region as “wise and prudent.”
He said the forces could, if necessary, preemptively prevent an attack by Iran against U.S. service members in the region.
However, he was quick to add that he hoped “it wouldn’t come to that.”
Responding to the president’s threats on Wednesday, the Iranian mission to the U.N. posted on X that it was “ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests.”
However, it warned that if pushed, it would defend itself and “respond like never before.”
