Rubio says 'no need' to attack Iran as diplomacy gathers pace

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said 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" towards 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." Iran's efforts to blockade Hormuz, the major exit route for Gulf energy shipments, have sent oil prices soaring -- a major factor in the humbling of Trump's Republicans in last week's midterm elections. Washington has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and in August announced what it called an "economic asphyxiation" campaign aimed at financially strangling Iran, already battered by years of sanctions.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called for greater efforts to end the conflict, while warning of the economic damage of an ongoing impasse. "We need to move beyond the 'no war, no peace' stalemate, which is causing deep economic pain for our countries," he said in Paris. "We must see an all-out diplomatic effort to end this conflict, prevent a nuclear Iran and the threats it poses around the world, and get the Strait of Hormuz properly reopened."

Washington has appeared to taper down its threats of renewed strikes after the Republicans' defeat, and even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who launched the war alongside Trump and recently lobbied to "forever eliminate the existential threat of Iran" -- appeared to recognise the shifting diplomatic reality. "In the very near future, we're going to be confronted by international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran and the preservation of this terror regime that seeks to annihilate us," he said on Tuesday. - 'Address Iran's demands' - Tehran said its offer to reopen Hormuz within two days -- if Washington agreed to a raft of conditions -- remained on the table.

Iran's demands have included ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing its assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending the US blockade of its ports. "The conflict with Iran will not be resolved through military means, nor by intensifying sanctions," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the IRNA news agency. "The only solution is to adopt a language of respect, engage in diplomacy, and address Iran's demands and conditions -- which were outlined in the two-day proposal and remain on the table."

Meanwhile, vessels continue to come under attack in and around the strait. The Emirati state oil company ADNOC said on Tuesday that one of its vessels had "sustained damage following an attack in the UAE's territorial waters", while the British maritime agency UKMTO reported a tanker was "struck by an unknown projectile" off the Omani coast. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that three oil tankers were on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, though it was unclear whether they were referring to the same ships. - US 'more flexible' after midterms - On Monday, after meeting Qatar's prime minister at the White House, Trump said that the US was "locked and loaded", but further strikes were "quite unlikely" given that key US allies in the Gulf "would prefer the status quo".

"We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict, and will ensure that America's interests are at all times protected," he wrote on social media. Qatar and Pakistan are leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in late February. Qatari foreign ministry official Ibrahim al-Hashmi confirmed there had been progress in the negotiations.

"The mediator is making a persistent and earnest effort to bridge the gaps between the parties' positions," he told a regular briefing, adding: "We remain hopeful." Iranian political analyst Ali Bigdeli said the outcome of the US elections appeared to have "somewhat reduced Iran's flexibility, whereas the Americans have become more flexible". He noted that the Iranian terms were "demanding and heavy for the United States to accept" but added that "engaging in direct talks" could bear results.

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei urged Washington to "surrender" to the Iranian demands. "The war on Iran has already wrecked the US government. But Washington flails like a desperate gambler. FOLD YOUR HAND," he posted on X. pdm-mz/smw/dcp