‘No longer conducting sustained strikes in Iran, because Epic Fury is over’: Rubio
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘No longer conducting sustained strikes in Iran, because Epic Fury is over’: Rubio")
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s uranium is at the centre of talks and Tehran has not yet agreed to a deal. Photograph: (Screengrab from video on X)
In the latest escalation, Iranian drones struck Kuwait International Airport, damaging a passenger terminal, killing an Indian national and injuring over 60 others. The attack renewed concerns about the vulnerability of Gulf states that had considered themselves insulated.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday that the US military’s Iran war operation has ended, and hence, forces are not conducting sustained strikes inside Iran anymore, as Operation Epic Fury had achieved its objectives.
Responding to questions from Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., Rubio said, “Epic Fury has concluded.”
“We’re no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military because Epic Fury is over,” Rubio said while asserting a US victory.
“We define victory as destroying their defence industrial base, significantly reducing the number of missile launchers that they possess, significantly reducing their stockpile of drones,” Rubio said.
“And we achieved all those, in addition to destroying what they had left of an air force and wiping out their entire conventional navy,” he added.
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‘Strikes near Strait of Hormuz defensive moves’
Rubio’s remarks came hours after Iranian and US military forces exchanged strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, but which he labelled “defensive” moves.
“What you’re seeing reports of, including last night, is the following: A ship will go through the route, particularly both the northern and southern route of Hormuz,” Rubio said. Those ships come under attack and then the US responds to that attack by shooting down the drones that are trying to sink a commercial civilian vessel illegally and unlawfully, he added.
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Rubio further said that the Iranians then target some facility in the region.
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“In order to protect our own forces, we don’t just strike the drones, we strike the people who launch those drones. These are completely defensive in nature, but they are happening in response to an Iranian action; if they don’t shoot at those ships, we don’t shoot, but we have to respond,” the secretary said.
Enriched uranium key issue in Iran talks; no deal yet: Rubio
Rubio also said that the fate of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles is at the centre of talks with Washington, and Tehran has not yet agreed to a peace deal.
Washington wants Iran to turn over its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, agree to curb its nuclear activities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz for any peace agreement to take hold.
“I think now, in some of the papers that have been exchanged back and forth, it’s clearly addressed, but we … still don’t have final sign-off from their system as of this morning,” Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In the latest escalation, Iranian drones struck Kuwait International Airport, damaging a passenger terminal, killing an Indian national and injuring over 60 others. The attack renewed concerns about the vulnerability of Gulf states that had previously considered themselves insulated from the conflict.
