Washington, June 2 (EFE).- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday he remains confident that negotiations with Iran will resume and could produce a nuclear agreement within days, despite Tehran’s decision to pause contacts with Washington following Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.
Speaking at a Senate hearing, Rubio said he hoped communication channels with Tehran would reopen soon, allowing both sides to return to focused negotiations within a clearly defined framework.
“We’re hopeful that something like that can happen — in which the Strait (of Hormuz) would reopen, we would enter a period of negotiations on very specific topics, delineated negotiations, in the hope of reaching an outcome that is acceptable to us, and something that they would be able to do as well,” Rubio said.
Rubio noted that Iran has, for the first time, agreed to discuss aspects of its nuclear program that it had previously refused to negotiate, describing the development as a significant breakthrough.
“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, that, for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention, much less enter to discussions about,» Rubio said of a potential agreement.
According to Rubio, progress has been slowed by divisions within Iran’s leadership, which he said have delayed responses to draft proposals exchanged through Pakistani intermediaries.
The secretary of state warned that if diplomacy fails, Washington will continue to face challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
However, he argued that Tehran’s strategic position has weakened considerably following the conflict launched by the United States in February.
Rubio described that military campaign as “highly successful” and said Iran no longer possesses the regional deterrent capabilities it once relied upon, including much of its naval power.
Iranian state media reported on Monday that Tehran had suspended contacts with Washington.
However, US President Donald Trump later said he had not been informed of any halt in negotiations and insisted that talks were continuing to move forward.
Trump also announced an agreement aimed at halting hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Nevertheless, reports of renewed exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and the Lebanese group emerged early Tuesday, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire efforts. EFE
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