Rubio says Iran war to last ‘weeks not months,’ no US ground troops needed

(Reuters)

DUBAI/WASHINGTON/PARIS, March 27- The U.S. expects its military operations against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, U.S. Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

Meanwhile, an Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia seriously wounded two U.S. military personnel and injured another 10, a U.S. official told Reuters, as drones and missiles continued to strike around the Gulf.

Rubio told ‌reporters after meeting G7 counterparts in France that Washington was “on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here – a matter of weeks, not months.”

While he said the U.S. could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region “to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge.”

Rubio discussed with G7 foreign ministers the possibility that Iran, even after the conflict ends, could try to impose shipping tolls through the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio said European and Asian countries that benefit from trade through the waterway should contribute to efforts to secure free passage, downplaying U.S. dependence on the trade.