US Secretary of State: Trump Has Yet to Decide on Resuming Attacks on Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that U.S. President Donald Trump has "not yet made a decision" regarding the resumption of large-scale military operations against Iran.

Speaking at a press conference held yesterday on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Secretary Rubio responded to a related question by saying, "I am not going to preview what the United States will or will not do militarily."

Addressing President Trump's recent remarks that any new strikes against Iran would be short, swift, and massive, Rubio explained, "It's about the fact that the United States remains the most powerful military force on the planet," adding, "If we want to, we can achieve our military objectives."

He continued, "The president doesn't prefer that approach. If he did, he would have done it weeks ago or months ago," noting, "The president prefers a diplomatic solution."

Rubio emphasized, "What the president wanted to convey to you is an extraordinary confidence that if military action is necessary, we have the capacity to execute it and everything required for success," while adding, "However, we prefer to do it peacefully."

Secretary Rubio also stated that end-of-war negotiations with Iran "have actually never stopped. Sometimes we negotiate directly, but very often active dialogues continue through intermediaries."

In addition, Rubio announced that President Trump will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be held next month in Shenzhen, China, and the G20 Summit in the United States in December, respectively.

He mentioned that although he did not hold an official meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—who attended this G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting—they did converse, discussing the upcoming meetings between the U.S. and Russian leaders at the two forthcoming summits.

Regarding criticisms over inviting President Putin to the G20 Summit, Rubio retorted, "Everyone wants an agreement to be reached to end the war in Ukraine," asking, "How can you reach an agreement if you don't meet with the other side, if you don't talk, if you don't engage?"

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.