WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that President Donald Trump prefers to resolve tensions with Iran through negotiations, while warning that Tehran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.“The president has said that his preference is to reach a deal with Iran. That’s very hard to do, but he’s going to try. And that’s what we’re trying to do right now,” Rubio said in an interview with Bloomberg.Rubio said nation-states must engage with one another and described Trump as open to direct diplomacy.“I serve under a president that’s willing to meet with anybody,” Rubio said.“I’m pretty confident in saying that if the Ayatollah (Ali Khamenei) said tomorrow he wanted to meet with President Trump, the president would meet him, not because he agrees with the Ayatollah, but because he thinks that’s the way you solve problems in the world.”Asked about the recent deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Middle East, Rubio said preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a firm U.S. objective.“Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon will never be allowed,” he said, calling it a threat to the United States, Europe, the region and global security.Rubio said Washington maintains a military presence in the region because of its alliances and past security threats.“Iran has shown the willingness and the capability to lash out and strike at the United States’ presence in the region,” he said. “Iran has shown in the past that they’re willing to attack us and or threaten our bases.”The United States must maintain “sufficient firepower in the region to ensure that they don’t make a mistake and come after us and trigger something larger,” Rubio added.
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