The US expects its operation against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

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 Washington 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."

Washington has dispatched two contingents of thousands of Marines to the region, the first of which is due to arrive around the end of March aboard a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.

The deployments have raised concerns that the war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28 with air strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials, could turn into a prolonged ground battle.

Iran's response, striking US and Israeli targets in the region as well as civilian targets in Gulf Arab nations and shipping, has severely disrupted global trade in energy and other commodities, raising fears of rising prices and recession.

US President Donald Trump has appeared anxious to wind down the unpopular war, and emphasised this week what he has described as productive negotiations aimed at a diplomatic solution to the war, despite repeated assertions from Tehran that no ⁠such talks have begun.

On Thursday, Trump extended a deadline by 10 days for Iran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face attacks against ⁠its civilian energy grid.

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 through the strait, downplaying the US dependence on the trade. (Reuters)



Edited by Robert Kemp