Rubio Says Major Military Action Against Iran Is Not Needed Right Now

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington's economic pressure campaign against Iran has been so damaging that there is no need, for now, for major combat operations. He made the remarks after meeting foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7), a bloc of leading industrialised democracies, in Paris. Al Jazeera

Rubio told the G7 ministers that the economic campaign is devastating Iran and that economic pressure is going to get even worse. He also pressed G7 allies to help protect shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for commercial vessels in the Gulf, and said U.S. forces would remain there.

President Donald Trump gave a similar signal the day before. On Monday, he said further strikes against Iran were quite unlikely. He also said U.S. Gulf allies preferred the continuation of the current situation, a reference to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. A blockade is a measure that restricts ships from entering or leaving the ports in question.

Reporting by Reuters, citing an informed source, said Vice President JD Vance favours a deal with Iran. Trump does not believe such a deal is possible at present, according to the same report. Al Jazeera

Axios, citing officials, reported that Trump has settled on doubling down on the pressure campaign while avoiding a return to full-scale military action. The U.S. continues to blockade Iranian ports and plans to block Iran's land-based supply routes as well, according to the same reporting.

The accounts differ on whether a negotiated deal is achievable, with Vance's position described as favouring one and Trump's described as doubting it is possible now. Both the Rubio and Trump remarks point in the same direction on military action, with neither describing a plan to resume large-scale combat at this time.