Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said Wednesday that while he would prefer Iran not possess missiles, he argued that completely eliminating the country’s ability to defend itself is not the central issue if the goal is achieving a durable agreement and avoiding another endless conflict in the Middle East.
Appearing on CNN’s The Source, Marshall explained that the original objectives behind U.S. actions were focused on weakening Iran’s military capabilities, limiting its ability to support foreign terrorist groups, reducing the effectiveness of its missile systems, and preventing future nuclear weapons development.
According to Marshall, significant progress has already been made.
“We went in there with a very clear purpose that we wanted to destroy their missile systems, their navy, their military, decrease their ability to fund other foreign terrorists, and, of course, be able to eliminate their ability to have nuclear weapons in the future,” Marshall said. He added that, in his view, “we’re 85% there on the missile systems.”
When pressed on whether he was comfortable with Iran maintaining missile capabilities, Marshall said he would prefer they not have them — especially long-range or nuclear-armed missiles — but stopped short of supporting complete removal.
“I don’t think that’s the key issue here,” Marshall said. “I think that they have to be able to defend themselves.”
Marshall argued that demanding total surrender of military capabilities would likely require a deeper and longer military commitment, something he suggested would move the situation toward another “forever war.”
He also emphasized what he described as broader regional support for the agreement, saying many countries in the Middle East favor the current direction and that regional backing could help create a more lasting outcome.
Foreign policy rarely offers perfect options — usually it’s choosing between outcomes people can actually achieve instead of outcomes that only work in television debates.
For supporters of the agreement, the priority remains keeping pressure on Iran’s nuclear ambitions while avoiding another open-ended conflict and preserving stability through negotiated strength.
