US-Iran war: Is Trump on verge of breakthrough? Marco Rubio says Tehran demands ‘ridiculous’ — are fresh strikes coming?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that negotiations with Iran had made little progress and that he did not see an imminent breakthrough.

Speaking before departing Florida for a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris, Rubio said Trump preferred a diplomatic solution but described Iran's demands as "unacceptable" and, in some cases, "outrageous and ridiculous, and really not realistic."

“You have 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 in Florida.

Rubio said that while Trump would always prefer a diplomatic solution, “it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really unrealistic."

Rubio did not specify which of Iran’s demands he was referring to.

He, however, made it clear that Trump hasn't closed the door on negotiations, saying the president would rather settle the conflict through diplomacy if possible.

“If there's a chance to do it, we will explore it…Right now, it hasn't been very productive,” Rubio said.

Rubio's comments came as Trump said Sunday that he was "highly unlikely" to order new strikes against Iran if negotiations made progress and produced a strong agreement, but warned that the United States had identified additional infrastructure targets, including bridges, should military action resume.

'Trump left the door open to ending the war'

CNN reported earlier that Trump left the door open to ending the war.

“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” CNN cited Trump as saying in a phone call on Sunday. “The answer is: highly unlikely it will be necessary.”

“I would if necessary, but we hit them really hard,” Trump added.

Trump acknowledged that the unpopular conflict, which has driven up oil and gasoline prices, played a role in Republicans’ decisive defeat in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

He defended the war, launched with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, as necessary to deny Tehran nuclear weapons.

Rubio says Iran war not 'necessarily popular' but...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran even if it was not “necessarily popular” to safeguard the world from the country's nuclear ambitions.

Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s social media post last week that largely blamed the war for the Republican losses, Rubio told reporters that Trump “identified a very real threat” in Iran and worked to stop the Islamic Republic from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said in Florida before heading to a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.

Trump recently spoke with Qatar’s leader about efforts to de-escalate tensions, a renewed signal of the president’s desire to end the war.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday “there has been no activity or movement from the mediators” in recent days following the elections in the US.

What “remains to be seen is how long it will take them to come to terms with the result and what direction they will take,” Araghchi told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

(With inputs from AP, Bloomberg)

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