Iran: They’re Really Playing With Fire If They Think Trump Is Just Going To Turn Back Now” Rubin

Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state under President Obama, issued a stark warning to Iranian leaders during an Al Arabiya interview, asserting that “they’re really playing with fire if they think President Trump is just going to turn back now.”

Speaking amid reports of U.S. naval deployments and Trump’s repeated declarations that time is running out, Rubin portrayed Tehran as dangerously underestimating American resolve.

Rubin argued that Iran faces mounting pressure on multiple fronts. Internally, the regime grapples with economic hardship intensified by sanctions and widespread unrest, including what he described as the “mass slaughter of Iranian civilians.”

Externally, military assets are positioning in the region, echoing earlier deployments near Venezuela that persisted for months. He urged Iranian leadership to “walk very carefully,” reminding them that “President Trump is not hesitant to use military force” and has already authorized strikes against IRGC figures and nuclear-related targets.

The former official suggested that maintaining power and avoiding full-scale war should motivate Tehran to pursue “a legitimate negotiation” through U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. “If they don’t think that the president will take strikes, they’re really making a very risky, dangerous bet,” Rubin said, pointing to past outcomes where similar miscalculations led to U.S. action. He referenced Trump’s June strikes, which he supported due to an believed imminent weaponization threat, as proof that the administration follows through on threats.

Rubin expressed frustration with the absence of active diplomacy. While he called a nuclear agreement “a worthy objective,” he noted that “currently, they’re not underway.” He described the policy as driven more by Trump’s “personal sense of animus and his personal sense of power” than by coordinated strategy with allies, leaving Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others anxious about refugee flows or instability if military action creates a vacuum without replacement governance.

Broader context from the discussion revealed Rubin’s concern over Washington’s policy vacuum. He told Al Arabiya that uncertainty prevails even among bipartisan experts, with “a lot of emotion and not a lot of clarity.”

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