Marco Rubio uses tough rhetoric on Iran while wrapping himself in religious identity and Western alliance politics, attacking what he frames as “Sunni Iran” and then pivoting to say “I’m Christian” as he defends US, Israeli, and NATO positions in the wider Russia–Ukraine era. His comments play into culture‑war framing of Middle East policy, linking faith, security, and great‑power confrontation in a way that can inflame tensions from Tehran to Moscow and Kyiv.