The combat operation launched in February against Iran has ended, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said definitively Tuesday, suggesting the American priority now was reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“The operation is over. Epic Fury, as the president notified Congress, we’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio said during a White House briefing, adding: “We achieved the objectives of that operation.”
“We’re now on to this Project Freedom,” he went on, referring to Trump’s initiative to guide merchant vessels through the strait. He added later: “That’s what we’re undergoing now. What they may lead to in the future is speculative.”
The White House notified Congress last week that hostilities against Iran had been “terminated” as it reached a 60-day threshold that would require formal authorization from lawmakers.
Trump, however, has not ruled out resuming a bombing campaign if negotiations collapse or Iran breaks the current ceasefire.
Questions about Iran’s nuclear program — including its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — will be resolved through talks, Rubio said.
“As far as a negotiation is concerned, I think the president’s been clear that part of the negotiation process has to be not just the enrichment, but what happens to this material that’s very deep somewhere,” he said.
“I don’t want to endanger the negotiations, but suffice it to say that the president and this entire team is aware of the centrality of that question, and that will have to be addressed one way or here,” he said.