U.S. State Secretary Says Iran War to Last 'Weeks Not Months'

Sky News

U.S. Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio.

The U.S. expects its military operations against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

Rubio told ‌reporters after meeting G7 counterparts in France that Washington was "on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here - a matter of weeks, not months."

While he said the U.S. could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region "to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge."

Rubio discussed with G7 foreign ministers the possibility that Iran, even after the conflict ends, could try to impose shipping tolls through the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio said European and Asian countries that benefit from trade through the waterway should contribute to efforts to secure free passage, downplaying U.S. dependence on the trade.

Washington has dispatched two contingents of thousands of Marines to the region, the first of which is due to arrive around the end of March aboard a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.

The deployments have raised concerns that the war, which the U.S. and Israel launched on 28 February  with airstrikes that killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials, could turn into a prolonged ground battle. Iran's response, striking U.S. and Israeli ⁠targets in the region as well as civilian targets in Gulf Arab nations and shipping, has disrupted global trade in energy and other commodities, raising fears of rising prices and recession.

U.S. President Donald Trump has appeared anxious to wind down the unpopular war, and emphasised this week what he has described as productive negotiations aimed at a diplomatic solution, despite repeated assertions from Tehran that no such talks have begun. On Thursday, President Trump extended a deadline by 10 days for Iran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face attacks against its civilian energy grid.

President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said the U.S. was hopeful of meetings with Iran within a week and that he expects an Iranian response soon to President Trump’s 15-point proposal to end the war. Witkoff said there were clear red lines for the U.S., including no uranium enrichment by Iran and the country giving up what he said was 10,000 kilograms of enriched stockpiled material.

Iranian media reported strikes on Iran's decommissioned heavy-water nuclear research reactor and a factory producing yellowcake uranium late on Friday, and said there were no radiation leaks or danger arising from either attack. Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency there was no increase in off-site radiation levels at the yellowcake facility, the IAEA said on X, adding that it would look into the report.

There were also reports of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which Iranian media said left no casualties or extensive damage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X that Israel, in coordination with the U.S., had also hit two steel factories and a power plant. "Attack contradicts POTUS extended deadline for diplomacy. Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes," Araqchi said, using an acronym for the U.S. president.

The U.S. proposal, sent via Pakistan two days ago, is reported to include demands ranging from dismantling Iran's nuclear and missile programmes to relinquishing control of the world's most important trade route for energy supplies.

Source: Reuters



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