Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the United States is actively degrading Iran’s military strength and anticipates completing its mission within weeks rather than months.

Speaking during an appearance on Good Morning America, Rubio discussed the ongoing escalation and explained that the strategy being carried out under President Donald Trump is centered on weakening Iran’s missile infrastructure and naval forces.

During the interview, ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Rubio about Trump’s reported remarks regarding a possible strike on oil installations at Kharg Island.

“Let’s talk about the President’s comments overnight, talking about taking the oil on Kharg Island. How would he do this?” Stephanopoulos said. “Why would he do this? Won’t it take ground troops?”

Rubio answered by shifting the focus to what he described as the larger aims of the campaign.

“First of all, it’s important to remember the objectives of this operation from the very beginning,” Rubio said. “We are destroying Iran’s navy.

“We are destroying their ability — their missile launchers by a significant percentage. We’re going to wipe out their defense industrial base, meaning their ability to make new missiles and new drones in the future, because it posed a great threat to the region.”

He added that Iran is currently in a weakened position and warned that postponing action would give Tehran time to recover militarily.

“That was an unacceptable risk, it needed to be addressed, and President Trump is addressing it,” he added.

Rubio also responded to Iranian threats involving control of a key global shipping route, saying the United States will not permit such a move.

“Now, they are making threats about controlling the Hormuz Straits in perpetuity, creating a tolling system and the like — that’s not going to be allowed to happen,” Rubio said.

He emphasized that Washington has multiple ways to respond, though he declined to provide specifics.

“He said the U.S. has “a number of options available to him … to prevent that from happening.

“Obviously, I’m not going to discuss what those options are, and we’re not going to discuss military tactics.”

Rubio concluded by reiterating the administration’s confidence in the timeline of the operation.

“We are going to achieve our objectives in a matter of weeks, not months,” he said.

{Matzav.com}