US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday the Iranian regime must fundamentally change its behavior even if there is no formal regime change, in particular abandoning the policy of “exporting the revolution” and seeking to expand influence in the Middle East. “I think the regime has to change. You might not have a regime change, but the regime has to change,” Rubio said on Fox News Channel’s ‘My View with Lara Trump.’ He said the Iranian regime traditionally has been expeditionary. “In essence, their view is they don’t want to just govern Iran; they want to govern the region, they want to export the revolution. That does have to change, and the only way you’re going to change that is if you make the price of it too high for them to be able to pay,” he noted. According to Rubio, the problem with Iran is not limited to the nuclear program, stressing that US President Donald Trump remains committed to preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “I don’t think the Iranian regime has ever faced a president like President Trump, which is someone that actually takes action,” he said. “They got used to, for 20 or 30 years, not just the US, but the broader world, allowing them to get away with things like lying, breaking deals, tricking people into agreements, and so forth,” the US Secretary of State noted. Rubio also said the latest US strikes have significantly degraded Iran's defensive capabilities. “Iran still has missiles and drones and can still do damage. But they no longer have that shield, that conventional shield that they could hide behind, and that’s changed the whole dynamic,” Rubio noted. He then explained that “It’s the only reason why they (Iranians) are now willing and in some cases seem eager to do a deal on denuclearization, to do a deal on the straits (of Hormuz), because we’re now approaching them from a position of strength.” Rubio’s comments came while Trump had called off an imminent attack on Iran in hopes of quickly reaching a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resolve the impasse over Tehran's nuclear capabilities. Trump had said late on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked for time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the strait and “an end to Iran's nuclear threat” but that Tehran must “rapidly make a DEAL.” The White House says Iran will “continue to pay the price” until it returns to the negotiations “in a meaningful way.” Administration officials have grown skeptical of Tehran's willingness to negotiate in good faith, maintaining active military pressure and exploring escalation options.
