Middle East & North Africa
Rubio: “No need for major combat operations” against Iran – the “red lines” and the Europeans’ pressure
After the G7 meeting in Paris, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the economic campaign against Iran is so damaging that major combat operations are not needed for now, while warning that the US military is ready if Tehran crosses red lines.
Washington sees no reason for now to resume large-scale combat operations against Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made that clear on Tuesday, November 10, after the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris. “The economic campaign is so devastating that at this point major combat operations aren’t needed. That is what I told our allies,” he said.
According to Mr Rubio, Donald Trump has concluded that “for now” major operations are not required, because the same goal is being achieved by economic means. The US secretary described the economic pain Iran is suffering as “unprecedented” and “growing every day,” with Iranian oil sales drying up because of the American blockade.
Not a retreat from the military option
The change of tone does not mean the military option has been abandoned. If Tehran crosses “red lines,” Mr Rubio said, the US military “is ready” and Iran will pay a “terrible price.” Using harsh language about the Iranian leadership, which he called a “radical regime of lunatics,” he assessed that Tehran does not yet show realism in the negotiations, but that “at some point economic reality penetrates the skull of even the most radical lunatic.”
His remarks come a day after Mr Trump met at the White House with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a key mediator in the conflict, as we reported. After the meeting the US president told reporters: “Iran, militarily, is essentially finished. We’re just maintaining the status quo.” He added that if they have to intervene again, the US is “armed and ready,” and that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries asked that there be no new strikes, as the Independent reported.
Sheikh Mohammed then travelled to Paris where, as the French side announced, he took part in surprise talks on the margins of the G7 with four European foreign ministers and his Saudi counterpart.
The Europeans press for no escalation
The G7’s Europeans pressed Mr Rubio to avoid fresh escalation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who chaired the meeting, warned that the risk of a new escalation between the US and Iran “has not been entirely ruled out,” otherwise two days would not have been devoted to the subject. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called for an “all-out diplomatic effort,” noting that the “neither war nor peace” situation harms economies and is not a “stable equilibrium.” He also called for the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened.
The war broke out on February 28 with the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran, for its part, insists on its own proposal to end the conflict, while US forces in Europe remain on alert, as the withdrawal of tanker aircraft from RAF Mildenhall showed.
