Washington DC, March 2 -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US military operation against Iran was aimed at "eliminating" the threat posed by Iran's short-range ballistic missiles and its naval capabilities, particularly regarding threats to global shipping.

Speaking to the press on Capitol Hill on Monday (local time), Rubio made it clear that the primary goal of the operation was to neutralise Iran's ballistic missile and naval threats.

"That is the clear objective of this mission," Rubio said and added that the focus was on preventing a potential threat to the US and its allies.

"Our mission and our focus is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities and their ability to manufacture them, as well as the threat...