Marco Rubio’s bold declaration: “There will be no nuclear Iran”

Israel and the United States are fully aligned on their strategy in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The discussions also addressed Iran and ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Lebanon.

Netanyahu expressed gratitude for Rubio’s “unequivocal backing” of Israel’s actions in Gaza, emphasizing that under President Donald Trump, both nations share a unified approach to the conflict.

“I want to assure everyone listening that President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination,” Netanyahu stated, reaffirming the strong partnership between the two allies.

Netanyahu continued: "Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder to countering the threat of Iran, we agreed that the Ayatollah's must not have nuclear weapons...Over the last 16 months Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran's terror axis; under the strong leadership of President Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job."

He went on to say that Israel and U.S. are in total accord as to what needs to be done against Iran, but was unable to disclose the details, "including when the gates of Hell will be open, as they surely will, if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them."

Rubio reiterated President's Trump plan for Gaza stating that we cannot repeat doing the same thing over and over again with the same disastrous results. Regarding Hamas he stated: "The President has been very clear: Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force...they must be eliminated, they must be eradicated."

He continued to say that Iran was behind all the terrorist activity in the region, and "there can never be a nuclear Iran, a nuclear Iran that can then hold itself immune from pressure and from action, that can never happen. The President has been clear about that as well."

Rubio arrived in Tel Aviv late on Saturday on his first visit to the Middle East.

The secretary landed in Israel as top US and Israeli officials worked to secure the release of the remaining six living hostages in phase one of the ceasefire deal.

Rubio's visit to the Middle East has been in the works for at least a month. The State Department said he would go to the Munich Security Conference, then Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia from February 13-18.