Rubio: Iran’s Clerics Are The ‘One Common Denominator’ Behind Regional Crisis

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has blamed Iran’s Shia clerical leadership for every major conflict in the Middle East, warning that a nuclear-armed Tehran would hold the entire region — and the United States, hostage.

The remarks were delivered on Friday, November 14, 2026, at the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C., ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE ACCUSATION

Rubio did not mince words. “Everywhere you turn, there’s one common denominator: the Shia clerics of Iran, and their expansionist mentality,” he said.

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He listed the conflicts he attributed to Tehran: Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Shiite militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and armed groups that supported former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“This is an extraordinary historic danger, and one that cannot be ignored,” Rubio said .He warned that threats originating in the Middle East could eventually reach the United States. “I know we think it’s half a world away, but nothing is half a world away anymore. Nothing is”.

THE NUCLEAR WARNING

Rubio pointed to attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as evidence of the dangers posed by Tehran.”Imagine if they had a nuclear weapon; they would hold the entire region hostage. They would hold this nation hostage”.He contrasted Iran’s leadership with North Korea’s.

While Pyongyang, he said, is primarily concerned with preserving its own rule, Iran’s leaders are “expansionists” and “revolutionaries”. He defended President Trump’s decision to confront Iran, acknowledging that the policy could impose economic and other costs.

“But victory is they can never have a nuclear weapon, one way or the other,” he said .

THE CRACKDOWN

Rubio also pointed to the Iranian authorities’ deadly crackdown on January’s protests. “They have killed tens and tens of thousands of their own people, slaughtered them in the streets,” he said.

He said security forces had also killed wounded protesters in hospitals, as well as doctors and nurses who treated them. “Imagine what they would do to us if they had a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

WHY IT MATTERS

Rubio’s speech is a comprehensive indictment of the Islamic Republic, delivered in the language of American exceptionalism and regime-change advocacy.

He is not merely describing Iran’s behaviour. He is constructing a moral case for confrontation.

The Shia clerics are not rational actors seeking survival, like North Korea. They are revolutionaries with an expansionist ideology. They cannot be deterred. They must be defeated.

The speech also serves a domestic political purpose. It defends Trump’s Iran policy, which has driven up oil prices and contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections by framing the conflict as a moral imperative rather than a strategic choice.

But the rhetoric raises uncomfortable questions. If Iran’s clerics are as dangerous as Rubio says, why has the US not achieved regime change? If they are as expansionist as he claims, why are they fighting to preserve their own regime in Tehran?

The answer is that Rubio is not giving a strategic assessment. He is giving a speech. It is a powerful one. But it is not a policy.

The clerics are still in power. The war continues. And the “extraordinary danger” remains. ValidViewNetwork reports.