Rubio: Iran Operation to Wrap Up Within Weeks

(MENAFN) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Friday that the ongoing military operation against Iran is on track to wrap up within weeks, offering the most defined public timeline yet on the conflict’s expected duration.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers’ gathering in France, Rubio stated the operation would conclude “at the appropriate time, in a matter of weeks, not months,” adding that Washington remained confident it could “achieve the objectives without any ground troops” — including the destruction of Iran’s missile and drone capabilities.

A reporter separately posted on X that Rubio told his G7 counterparts the conflict could persist for “another two to four weeks.”

Rubio also disclosed that Washington is open to redirecting U.S. weapons currently earmarked for Ukraine toward the Middle East theater, though he confirmed no such transfer has been executed to date.

On the Russia-Ukraine front, Rubio said no talks are currently scheduled, and he sharply pushed back against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s assertion that U.S. security guarantees are contingent on territorial concessions in Donbass — dismissing the claim as “a lie” and stating that Zelensky was explicitly told such guarantees would only materialize after the conflict’s conclusion.

The G7 foreign ministers convened in France Thursday and Friday, with Iran and the Russia-Ukraine conflict dominating the agenda.

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