Shafaqna Pakistan: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday voiced optimism that a deal to end the conflict with Iran could be within reach, while emphasizing that Tehran must significantly limit its nuclear program before any sanctions relief is considered.
“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” Rubio told a Congressional panel.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio spoke as the three-month US-Israeli conflict with Iran appeared to be at an impasse, with the continued closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz disrupting global energy markets.
He stressed that any peace agreement would require Tehran to reopen the vital shipping route, along with commitments to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
“Iran is being sanctioned because they’ve highly enriched uranium, Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities,” Rubio said. “If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed confidence that a deal with Iran was near, but talks have stalled. And although a ceasefire has largely held since early April, Iranian and US forces have traded strikes in recent days.
Rubio sought to downplay the hostilities, saying the conflict had effectively ended. “Well, the war is over,” he said.
While acknowledging that the Iranians “still have a lot of drones,” Rubio defended the decision to go to war, saying it has significantly reduced the Islamic republic’s ability to do harm.
“Iran has no navy left, they’ve lost a substantial percentage of their defense industrial base, that Iran has lost a substantial percentage of their missile launchers,” Rubio said.
He added: “And their economy is far worse today, and I mean, far worse today than it was six to nine months ago.”
Rubio also stated that Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in US-Israeli attacks and has not been seen in public since assuming office, is alive and increasingly active.
“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio told the panel.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.
Source: Dunya News
