Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the US naval blockade and economic sanctions on Iran are working so effectively that major combat operations are no longer needed.
"As of now, there's really no need for major combat operations any longer because the blockade and the economic sanctions are doing devastation to their economy," Rubio told reporters in Paris after two days of meetings with G7 foreign ministers. "That's what I told our allies here today."
Rubio repeatedly pushed back on the argument that holding off on military action amounts to a stalemate. "The economic pain that is being inflicted on Iran right now is extraordinary and it compounds. It's growing every day," he said. "We don't need to conduct military strikes if we're achieving the same objective through economic means and economic pressure. That's not stalemate. Never has Iran ever faced the inability to sell energy in the global market like they are today."
Rubio said President Donald Trump has received input from regional allies in the Middle East that supports this assessment. He added that Washington remains open to a "real deal" with Tehran, but called Iran's conditions for an agreement "absurd." In remarks circulated on social media, he also said the Iranian people "deserve better" than to become a third-world country, "which is where their leadership is taking them."
