As Iran retaliates, largest US military base in Middle East hit by ballistic missile, Qatar says

In a statement directed at Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: U.S. has entered a war of choice on behalf of Israel. There was never any so-called Iranian 'threat.'"

Araghchi's comments came after Rubio on Monday gave a new explanation from the Trump administration about why the U.S. decided to launch military action against Iran now -- saying the threat from Iran was "imminent" because it knew it would retaliate against the U.S. if attacked, including by Israel.

He spoke to reporters before briefing the Gang of 8 congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.

"It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone -- the United States or Israel or anyone -- they were going to respond, and respond against the United States. The orders had been delegated down to the field commanders," Rubio said. "It was automatic."

"If we stood and waited for that attack to come first, before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties," Rubio went on. "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties."

Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said Tuesday that Iranian drones struck an Australian military facility in the United Arab Emirates on the first night of the conflict, but there were no injuries.

The drones struck Al Minhad Air Base, which is a logistics hub for Australia’s Middle East operations near Dubai, Marles said during a news conference.

During an interview with Fox News on Monday night, his first interview since the joint U.S-Israel strikes on Iran, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump.

"You needed a resolute president like Donald Trump to take that action. And we are his very strong and able partners, and our alliance today is so strong," he said.

"Action had to be taken, and we took it," Netanyahu said of the strikes and Iran's nuclear capacities.

Netanyahu claimed that Iran had "started building new sites, new places, underground bunkers that would make the ballistic missile program and the atomic bomb program renewed within months, if no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future."

President Donald Trump submitted to Congress on Monday a war powers notification regarding military action taken on Feb. 28 against the government of Iran.

“Despite my Administration’s repeated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to Iran’s malign behavior, the threat to the United States and its allies and partners became untenable,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Sen. Chuck Grassley, president pro tempore of the Senate.

“Accordingly, and at my direction, on February 28, 2026, United States forces conducted precision strikes against numerous targets within Iran including ballistic missile sites, maritime mining capabilities, air defenses and command and control capabilities. Strikes were undertaken to protect United States forces in the region, protect the United States homeland, advance vital United States national interests including ensuring the free flow of maritime commerce through the Strait of Hormuz and in the collective self-defense of our allies, including Israel," Trump wrote.

In the notification, Trump acknowledges that “it is not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary” during this conflict.

“United States forces remain postured to take further action, as necessary and appropriate to address further threats and attacks upon the United States or its allies and partners,” Trump wrote.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray