Rubio says Iran war could end within weeks

The US expects its military operations against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, US 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 US 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 US dependence on the trade. Marines en route 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 US and Israel launched on February 28 with air strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials, could turn into a prolonged ground battle. Iran’s response, striking US 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. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US was ​hopeful of meetings with Iran within a week and that he expects an Iranian response soon to Trump’s 15-point proposal to end the war. Witkoff said there were clear red lines for the US, including no uranium enrichment by Iran and the country giving up what he said was 10, 000 kilograms of enriched stockpiled material.

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