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Marco Rubio: “Their air defenses are crushed from the very beginning.”

Featuring: Marco Rubio, Republican | Secretary of State, United States | National

Marco Rubio faces questions on Iran and Ukraine at Southeast Asia summit

Published July 23, 2026 | Video Starts at 31:21

What they have left is a handful of Boston Whalers, but they don't really have a lot of. They don't have a navy. They don't have an air force. Their air defenses are crushed from the very beginning. Now, what the President has pointed to is the fact that the people of Iran deserve better leadership. And they slaughter their own people by the thousands. (31:21–31:25)

CLAIM

Asserts that Iran's air defenses have been destroyed.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Marco Rubio

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“The United States, the president has been clear that we want, if we can, we are prepared to play a constructive role in bringing about an…”
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“Iran has spent the better part of 20 years not just sponsoring terrorism, but building long range rockets, short range missiles and drones.”
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“It's a destabilizing event. And what's happened with the Philippines, you know, obviously we saw that too. The whole world saw it.”
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“Iran is begging us, okay, Both directly and indirectly. Let's do a deal. Let's talk.”
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“The Houthis largely were smart and stayed out of all this throughout the conflict.”
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“The executive order expired. The conditions underlying some of those elements no longer existed.”
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“The United States and the Philippines have a treaty, and so we will live by that treaty.”
Marco Rubio faces questions on Iran and Ukraine at Southeast Asia summit | Uploaded July 23, 2026 | 07:54-07:59
“There was a US Coast Guard vessel in the region at the time that this happened and actually helped stand between the two sides and allowed…”
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“The Energy Department entered into this agreement [with Saudi Arabia] in November of last year.”
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“The regime [in Cuba] has survived on, on, you know, on subsidies from the Soviet Union and then from Chavez.”
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“The 2015 National assembly is the government that we recognized up.”
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“We're not members of the ICC. We never signed that treaty.”
Marco Rubio faces questions on Iran and Ukraine at Southeast Asia summit | Uploaded July 23, 2026 | 18:59-19:03
“The US Position on it is we don't we sell arms. We sell arms via pearl, which is an initiative we have through NATO.”
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“Their industrial base has been decimated. Their defense industrial base has been decimated.”
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“They're losing launchers, they're losing radars every single night.”
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“They are suffering billions of dollars in damage and their economy is a disaster.”
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“They violated the MOU within days of it being implemented.”
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“We do that with countries all over the world.”
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“We've long cooperated with the Israelis [on air defense].”
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“Iran is a rich country. Iran can be the richest country in the Middle east if they want it to be.”
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“They take their money and they use it and they give it to Hezbollah, they give it to Hamas, they give it to the Houthis, they give it to…”
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“They build drones and missiles and pursue a nuclear weapons program.”
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“The US Is seeking a denuclearized Iran that will never have a nuclear weapon.”
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