Rubio says ‘no need’ to attack Iran as diplomacy gathers pace

TEHRAN: Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that he saw no need to attack Iran again, as diplomatic efforts to end the war gathered steam and Tehran urged Washington to accept its demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours after President Donald Trump said he saw “positive momentum” toward resolving the eight-month war, Rubio said the United States’ squeezing of Iran’s economy made further attacks unnecessary.

“The economic campaign (against Iran) is so devastating that right now there is no need for major combat operations,” the secretary of state said after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris. “That’s what I told our allies here today.”