Washington, Nov 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that diplomatic efforts with Iran were not close to a breakthrough and had not been productive, blaming Tehran's demands while insisting Washington would still explore a negotiated end to the conflict if one emerged.
Speaking to reporters at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida, before departing for a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in France, Rubio offered a sharper assessment of Iran diplomacy than he had given a week earlier, when he declined to characterise the progress of talks.
"I don't have any progress to report to you," he said.
"I think you see some of these things that are out there; 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 President Donald Trump preferred to resolve the confrontation and other problems through diplomacy when possible.
"The President would always prefer to solve this and every problem diplomatically. Sometimes that's not possible, unfortunately. But if there's a chance to do it, we'll explore it," he said.
He then criticised Iranian negotiating positions.
"Right now it hasn't been very productive, because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable but, in some cases, outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic," Rubio said.
On the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta, Rubio told reporters on October 31 that talks with Iran had never stopped but refused to assess their progress or give a timeframe, saying only that Washington would be open to a diplomatic solution.
On Sunday, he also defended the administration's decision to confront what he described as the long-standing threat of a nuclear Iran, framing it as a bipartisan national security interest that previous presidents had failed to address.
"At the end of the day I think we all can all agree, I think there's bipartisan – I would hope there's bipartisan – maybe not anymore – but there used to be bipartisan acknowledgement that a nuclear Iran would be completely unacceptable and dangerous for the United States – not just Israel, not just the Middle East – the whole world and the United States," he said.
"So I think the President took on something that other presidents have failed to do. And sometimes when you do the right thing – I don't know if it's popular or not, but it's the right thing to do. And presidents are elected to do the hard things – sometimes difficult things, but necessary things."
Asked about military activity tied to the Iran conflict, Rubio described US action as defensive and did not announce new strikes.
"Well, the US acts defensively. If there's a threat to our forces in the region, we will act against those. If there's a threat to shipping, we've been defending shipping for a while. So if there's a clear and present threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves," he said.
"So all of that is determined by the threat level and whether they're coming after us or potentially coming after us."
Rubio declined to discuss the election results, saying the secretary of state's role was best served by staying out of domestic politics.
Source: IANS
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