US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said the Trump administration remained open to a diplomatic settlement with Iran but dismissed Tehran's demands
as "absurd", warning that Washington would further intensify its economic pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. Speaking to reporters in Paris on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting, Rubio said US sanctions and the naval blockade of Iranian ports had inflicted significant damage on Iran's economy. He also indicated that Washington did not see an immediate need to resume major military operations against Tehran. His remarks came days after US President Donald Trump declared that the American military campaign against Iran was "effectively over", signalling Washington's preference to maintain the current status quo in the region. Rubio accused Iran's leadership of driving the country towards economic ruin by refusing to accept US demands to end the conflict. However, he maintained that the door to negotiations remained open. "Iran would love a deal. The problem is the conditions they continue to place are absurd. Like, they're not even serious right now. But that could change, certainly. I mean, eventually you have to eat, eventually you have to be able to pay your own fighters and your own security forces and so forth," Rubio said.
US Economic Pressure On Iran To Intensify
The US Secretary of State warned that the economic fallout of Washington's sanctions and blockade would deepen in the coming months, particularly as Iran exhausts the limited oil supplies that managed to evade restrictions."The economic pressure is going to get even worse. I mean, understand that these sanctions begin to compound," Rubio said.
He added that Iran had only a handful of oil shipments left at sea that had escaped the blockade during the brief ceasefire period. Once those supplies were exhausted, almost all of Tehran's oil revenues would dry up, he claimed.
Rubio further said the Iranian people "deserve better than to be a third-world country", accusing the country's leadership of pushing it towards economic collapse.
According to an Axios report, Rubio told G7 allies that Trump had considered two options — resuming military action against Iran or reaching a diplomatic agreement — before opting for a third strategy of economically strangling the Iranian regime.
Rubio also ruled out Washington agreeing to Tehran's demand for reparations.
"We're not going to pay. Iran is demanding reparations. They should be the ones paying reparations because they're the ones that have destabilised the region. They're demanding pallets of cash, which the president made clear is not going to happen," he said.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hits Back At Rubio
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit back at Rubio's remarks, describing them as "delusions" and accusing Washington of pursuing failed policies through economic coercion."8 years ago a cartoon character like Pompeo said Iranians must follow White House diktat 'if they want to eat'. Today, Rubio — whose fellow Cubans are victims of same policy — repeats that drivel. Forget about the inhumanity. It's the delusions that are producing failed US policy," Araghchi said in a post on X.
Diplomatic Push To Prevent Renewed US-Iran War
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran conflict appeared to be gaining momentum, with Trump expressing optimism about the possibility of a resolution.The US President said he saw "positive momentum" towards a settlement, amid concerns over a possible escalation following the Republican Party's defeat in the recent midterm elections.
Leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar have reportedly been working to persuade Trump against restarting military operations against Iran.
