Iran remains a 'very grave threat' to the United States, Rubio says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Iran continues to pose a “very grave threat” to the US, citing both its nuclear ambitions and extensive missile and naval capabilities.

“Iran poses a very grave threat to the United States, and has for a very long time…First and foremost, after their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are. You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it. They're not enriching right now, but they're trying to get to the point where they ultimately can,” Rubio said.

“The other thing I would point you to, however, is that Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short range ballistic missiles, that threaten the United States and our bases in the region, and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE and Qatar and Bahrain. And they also possess naval assets that threaten shipping and try to threaten the US Navy. So I want everybody to understand that. And beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans if they so choose to do so,” he added.