US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that negotiations over a possible nuclear deal with Iran had produced little progress, rejecting suggestions that Washington and Tehran were close to reaching a diplomatic breakthrough.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Paris to attend a G7 meeting, Rubio said several countries continued to present proposals to Iran, but there was no indication a deal was imminent.
“I don’t have any wonderful progress to report to you. I think you see some of these things that exist. There are a number of countries that continue to engage them with different ideas, but I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” Rubio said.
He stressed that President Donald Trump remains open to diplomacy despite the lack of significant results.
“The president will always prefer to resolve every issue diplomatically. Sometimes that is not possible. But if there is an opportunity to do so, we will explore it.”
Rubio sharply criticized Tehran’s negotiating position, arguing that its demands had prevented the talks from producing meaningful results.
“So far it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are not only unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really unrealistic.”
The secretary of state also defended Trump’s military actions against Iran, saying the president faced a long-standing security threat that previous administrations had failed to address.
“The president of the United States has identified a very real threat to this country that has existed for a very long time,” Rubio told reporters.
“So I think the president has undertaken something that other presidents have failed to do,” he added.
Rubio called for bipartisan recognition of the dangers posed by Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons.
“Both parties must recognize that a nuclear Iran would be totally unacceptable and dangerous for the United States, not just for Israel, not just for the Middle East, for the whole world and for the United States,” he said.
He also emphasized Washington’s authority to protect U.S. military personnel and commercial vessels from threats in the region.
“We have the right to defend ourselves,” Rubio said.
His remarks came as Qatar continues its mediation contacts between Washington and Tehran, while Trump considers the possibility of new military strikes against Iran.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Trump suggested that another major confrontation could be avoided if Iran agreed to a sufficiently strong nuclear deal and reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong deal,” Trump said.
The president said further military action would likely not be necessary, but made clear that the United States remained ready to strike if diplomacy failed.
“It is very unlikely that the response will be necessary,” Trump said. “It’s a bankrupt nation. You’ve seen 301% inflation this year. It’s very unlikely that it will be necessary. I would do it if necessary, but we hit them very hard. I hit them so hard. You don’t know how hard I hit them.”
Trump argued that Iran had already suffered serious economic and military damage.
“They are withering financially. We hit them militarily. We could finish them off,” he warned.
“We’re ready. I have three aircraft carriers here. The other one just arrived. We have three. They’re fully locked and loaded,” Trump continued.
He also revealed that US forces had identified 38 Iranian bridges that could be destroyed in a potential new military operation.
“We have 38 bridges lined up that we can tear down in literally an hour,” Trump said. “They will all be down.”
Still, Trump said he would prefer not to target infrastructure that could take years to rebuild.
“I don’t want to do that because basically it will take 10 years to rebuild them,” he added. “I don’t like tearing down bridges. And the hardest thing to build is a bridge. It takes years and I’m a good builder.”
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