{"id":15476,"date":"2026-11-11T14:47:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T14:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15476"},"modified":"2026-11-11T14:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T14:47:24","slug":"rubio-backs-blockade-vance-wants-deal-is-trumps-team-split-on-iran-war-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15476","title":{"rendered":"Rubio backs blockade, Vance wants deal: Is Trump\u2019s team split on Iran war? | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington\u2019s economic pressure campaign against Iran is proving so effective that a resumption of large-scale military operations is unnecessary.<\/p>\n

His remarks are the latest in an often-evolving series of messages from US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration on the conflict with Iran. They also come after a crushing midterm defeat for Trump\u2019s Republican Party, which the president acknowledged was likely partly driven by public opposition to the war.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

So how do Rubio\u2019s latest remarks compare with the positions of other administration officials, and what do they say about the state of the conflict?<\/p>\n

What have Trump, Rubio and Vance said about the conflict?<\/h2>\n

Rubio made his latest comments on Tuesday after meeting with foreign ministers<\/a> from the Group of Seven (G7) forum in Paris.<\/p>\n

He said he told G7 allies that \u201cthe economic campaign [against Iran] is so devastating that right now there is no need for major combat operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to conduct military strikes if we\u2019re achieving the same objective through economic means and economic pressure. That\u2019s not stalemate,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economic pressure on Iran is going to get even worse,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Rubio also pushed G7 allies to help \u201cprotect shipping\u201d around the embattled Strait of Hormuz, where he said US forces would stay.<\/p>\n

The secretary of state\u2019s remarks were largely in line with Trump\u2019s comments on Monday, when the president said further strikes against Iran were \u201cquite unlikely\u201d.<\/p>\n

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the US\u2019s Gulf allies preferred a continuation of the \u201cstatus quo\u201d, referring to the US\u2019s blockade of Iranian ports. Trump added that there appears to be \u201cpositive momentum\u201d towards ending the conflict, but that the US remains \u201clocked and loaded\u201d should circumstances change.<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance, who has been more critical of the war and recently wrote a lengthy social media post<\/a> blaming the Republican Party\u2019s midterm defeat on the conflict, favours a deal with Iran, which Trump does not believe is possible right now, the Reuters news agency cited an informed source as saying.<\/p>\n

Between sanctions and diplomacy: What are the divisions on Iran war strategy?<\/h2>\n

Negotiations to end the US-Iran conflict have been largely stalled for months, as Iran continues to target vessels it claims are violating its conditions for transit through the Strait of Hormuz and the US ramps up sanctions against Iran and continues to blockade Iranian ports, with plans to block Iran\u2019s land-based supply routes as well.<\/p>\n

Back in September, Iran proposed a seven-day plan<\/a> to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks. Tehran has since said that timeline could be brought down to two days<\/a>. Tehran\u2019s demands for the US include lifting sanctions Washington imposed after the collapse of a June memorandum of understanding (MoU), reducing the US military presence in the region, reinstating oil waivers and releasing frozen Iranian funds.<\/p>\n

Trump, torn between restarting an unpopular war or pushing harder for a deal with Tehran, has for now settled on a middle ground: doubling down on the pressure campaign against Iran while avoiding a return to full-scale military action, according to officials quoted by Axios.<\/p>\n

That strategy is backed by several key administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, as well as Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Axios cited US officials as saying.<\/p>\n

However, several US allies in the region, including Pakistan, Iraq and Turkiye, are concerned that a drawn-out US pressure campaign against Iran could hurt their own business interests, said one official cited by the news outlet.<\/p>\n

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that a long-term US policy of intensive sanctions and a blockade against Iran would only prolong an \u201cunstable status quo\u201d that would eventually escalate into more military confrontation.<\/p>\n

However, he said one \u201cwalk-away\u201d option for Trump could be to quietly relax the sanctions and blockade while maintaining them \u201con paper\u201d.<\/p>\n

In this case, \u201cTrump walks away and claims to retain the blockade and sanctions infrastructure, but in reality, allows it to imperceptibly wither away,\u201d Parsi told Al Jazeera. \u201cThe blockade begins to loosen, sanctions enforcement begins to decay, and slowly but surely, Asian and Middle Eastern countries begin trading with and investing in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA new equilibrium emerges in which sanctions enforcement is strong enough for the US to claim the restrictions are still in place, yet weak enough to prevent Tehran from challenging the new status quo,\u201d Parsi said.<\/p>\n

Have the midterm election results impacted Trump\u2019s strategy?<\/h2>\n

Yes, according to analysts.<\/p>\n

Negar Mortazavi, senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, said the Republicans\u2019 resounding election defeat<\/a> \u201cdramatically raised the political cost of more escalation\u201d and gave the Democrats a stronger mandate to challenge the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Democrats unite and use their new power aggressively, they can make it increasingly difficult for Trump to continue the war, pressuring him to end it,\u201d Mortazavi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cA diplomatic breakthrough is not guaranteed, but the political and strategic costs of escalation keep growing, making another round of war less likely,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Both Trump and Vance have acknowledged that the Iran war was partly to blame for the Republicans\u2019 loss, with Trump saying voters were not ready for petrol prices to rise.<\/p>\n

According to a poll by Reuters\/Ipsos completed on Monday, 71 percent of Americans \u2013 including 93 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans \u2013\u00a0 favour congressional legislation that would halt the Iran war.<\/p>\n

What is Iran saying?<\/h2>\n

Iranian officials have upped their rhetoric<\/a> even as Washington appears to be moving away from military escalation.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday said the war will \u201cnot end either through military means or by increasing sanctions\u201d, but only through \u201cusing the language of respect\u201d.<\/p>\n

In comments carried by Iran\u2019s IRNA news agency, he urged the US \u201cto act on Iran\u2019s demands and conditions\u201d, adding that Trump \u201cshould have realised much earlier that he has not achieved, and will not achieve, any of his goals in the war with Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s top security chief Mohsen Rezaei, in a social media post on Monday, said the US government had been \u201cwrecked\u201d by the war and that it was time for it to \u201csurrender\u201d to Iran\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, noted that Iran\u2019s language has become \u201cmore confident than ever before\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to convey to the public, internally, and also to the Americans, that there is no way this war can be declared over without responding to those conditions presented by Iran during the negotiations,\u201d said Vall.<\/p>\n

What is the current status of diplomacy?<\/h2>\n

There are mixed messages.<\/p>\n

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said that Doha is \u201cworking tirelessly\u201d in its ongoing mediation efforts, and has received positive reactions from both sides.<\/p>\n

Trump, the day before, after hosting Qatar\u2019s prime minister at the White House<\/a>, also spoke of \u201cmomentum towards the end of this conflict\u201d, adding that \u201cIran is talking to us, and they\u2019re talking very politely\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rubio, for his part, said the US remains \u201copen to diplomacy\u201d, but called Iran\u2019s current demands \u201ctotally unrealistic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that could change \u2013 and if it does, we\u2019re prepared for diplomacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have appeared more sceptical of the latest reports of mediation, insisting that the US must accept their demands.<\/p>\n

Rezaei on Tuesday said there \u2060were no negotiations taking place<\/a> between Tehran and Washington and that Iran would retaliate against any new US attack by targeting US bases \u201cfar away\u201d. He also said Iran would not let any of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, ruling out a concession the US has sought in potential nuclear talks.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, Rezaei went on to accuse the US of \u201cmanufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks\u201d.<\/p>\n

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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington\u2019s economic pressure campaign against Iran is proving so effective that a resumption of large-scale military operations is unnecessary. His remarks are the latest in an often-evolving series of messages from US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration on the conflict with Iran. They also come after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t