Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US does not need to take further military action against Iran because economic pressure has weakened the country so much.
"no need for military action because we've weakened them so much"
He made the remarks in a speech to the Federalist Society on Friday evening in Washington, according to the Times of Israel. The paper says they reinforce Trump's statement earlier in the week that the war "militarily is effectively over".
Iran International reports that Rubio argued a nuclear-armed Iran could hold the region and the US hostage, and that preventing that remains Washington's measure of victory. It says he also kept the door open to a negotiated settlement.
Rubio's claim about how far economic pressure has weakened Iran has not been independently checked.