Rubio Tells Allies US Does Not Plan New Strikes on Iran 'For the Time Being'

US officials said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told several allied foreign ministers that Washington does not currently intend to carry out fresh military strikes on Iran 'for the time being,' opting instead to intensify pressure through the naval blockade and economic sanctions campaign while keeping the Strait of Hormuz contested. Officials stressed the military option has not been taken off the table if Iran strikes first. The posture aligns with the same-day Iran-Oman Hormuz corridor talks and Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's standing conditions for a full reopening of the strait: lifting the US naval blockade and oil sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, withdrawing US forces from the region, and paying war reparations, terms he says are required under the June memorandum of understanding.