<\/p>
US\u00a0Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington believes it can achieve its military objectives in Iran without deploying ground troops, even as thousands of American soldiers are being sent to the region.\u00a0<\/p>
Speaking to reporters after a G7 meeting in France, Rubio declined to discuss specific military tactics but said the United States\u2019 goals in Iran were progressing faster than expected.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cI won\u2019t discuss military tactics,\u201d Rubio said, adding that most US\u00a0objectives are already \u201cahead of schedule.\u201d He stressed that Washington believes it can accomplish its goals \u201cwithout any ground troops.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>
Rubio said on March 27 the US expects its operation in Iran to conclude in \u201cweeks, not months\u201d after he met with G7 foreign ministers in France.<\/p>
Troops deployed for contingencies\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Despite the statement, the United States has begun deploying thousands of troops to the region as the conflict continues.\u00a0Among them are at least 1,000 soldiers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division.\u00a0<\/p> Rubio said the troop deployments are meant to give President Donald Trump flexibility should the situation escalate.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cHe has to be prepared for multiple contingencies,\u201d Rubio said, noting that the presence of U.S. forces provides \u201cmaximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies should they emerge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p> Concern over Strait of Hormuz shipping\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Rubio also warned that ensuring shipping access through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz will likely become an immediate challenge once the current military phase of the conflict ends.\u00a0<\/p> The narrow waterway is one of the world\u2019s most critical oil transit routes, handling a significant portion of global energy shipments.\u00a0<\/p> Rubio said the United States is concerned Iran may attempt to impose tolls on ships passing through the strait, a move he said could disrupt global trade and energy markets.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cNot only is this illegal, it\u2019s unacceptable. It\u2019s dangerous to the world,\u201d Rubio said.\u00a0He added that Washington will seek international cooperation to ensure freedom of navigation in the waterway once hostilities subside.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s important that the world have a plan,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p> Rubio dismisses Russia\u2019s role\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Rubio also dismissed reports that Russia has been assisting Iran by providing intelligence to help target US\u00a0military assets in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p> Responding to questions about the reports, Rubio said Moscow\u2019s actions were not affecting US operations. \u201cThere is nothing Russia is doing for Iran that is in any way impeding or affecting our operation or the effectiveness,\u201d he said.<\/p> US troop casualties mount\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Meanwhile, the US\u00a0military confirmed that more than 300 American service members have been wounded since the start of the conflict.\u00a0According to United States Central Command, about 303 troops have been injured since the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.\u00a0<\/p> US\u00a0Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said the majority of those injuries were minor, with 273 troops already returning to duty.\u00a0However, a US\u00a0official said 10 personnel remain seriously wounded.\u00a0<\/p> The latest figures also show that 13 US\u00a0troops have been killed in the conflict \u2014 seven in the Gulf region and six in Iraq.<\/p> <\/div> US Iran war, Iran conflict latest news, US military operations Iran, Marco Rubio Iran statement, US troops Middle East deployment, Strait of Hormuz shipping crisis, Iran US tensions, Middle East war updates, US military casualties Iran war, global oil route Strait of Hormuz, US Iran conflict analysis, Iran war international response, US foreign policy Iran, Middle East geopolitical tensions, Iran war news update#USs #Iran #war #goals #ahead #schedule #achievable #ground #troops #Marco #Rubio1774634608<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US\u00a0Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington believes it can achieve its military objectives in Iran without deploying ground troops, even as thousands of American soldiers are being sent to the region.\u00a0 Speaking to reporters after a G7 meeting in France, Rubio declined to discuss specific military tactics but said the United States\u2019 goals in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[19899,1612,19894,3385,13888,968,18023,19896,19898,6144,15830,19889,19897,19892,19900,10012,19891,2656,2320,19895,15117,19893,19888,19890,14164,1975],"class_list":["post-5364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","tag-achievable","tag-ahead","tag-global-oil-route-strait-of-hormuz","tag-goals","tag-ground","tag-iran","tag-iran-conflict-latest-news","tag-iran-war-international-response","tag-iran-war-news-update","tag-iran-us-tensions","tag-marco","tag-marco-rubio-iran-statement","tag-middle-east-geopolitical-tensions","tag-middle-east-war-updates","tag-rubio","tag-schedule","tag-strait-of-hormuz-shipping-crisis","tag-troops","tag-us-foreign-policy-iran","tag-us-iran-conflict-analysis","tag-us-iran-war","tag-us-military-casualties-iran-war","tag-us-military-operations-iran","tag-us-troops-middle-east-deployment","tag-uss","tag-war"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}