Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday the U.S. Is on track to complete its military objectives in Iran within weeks, rejecting the idea that a ground invasion is coming.
“As the Department of War has consistently outlined, we are on or ahead of schedule in that operation and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here, in a matter of weeks, not months, and the progress is going very well. Obviously, we have some work to do. We have to finish the job, and we are finishing that job,” Rubio told reporters in Paris.
“This is not going to be a prolonged conflict,” he added, going on to note that the United States is “going to destroy their factories that make missiles and rockets and drones; we’re going to destroy their navy; we’re going to destroy their air force; and we are going to significantly destroy their missile launchers so they can never hide behind these things to get a nuclear weapon.”
“We can achieve – we are achieving all those objectives,” he declared. “We are ahead of schedule on most of them, and we can achieve them without any ground troops – without any.”
U.S. Forces have already struck more than 90 Iranian military targets in the Kharg area this month, including missile and naval mine facilities, while deliberately leaving oil infrastructure untouched. That deliberate restraint has kept Iran’s export operations running, giving Washington a significant economic lever it has yet to fully pull.
Even if U.S. Forces took the island offline, Iran retains four other export terminals. Its facility at Jask, located outside the Strait of Hormuz, can process roughly one-fifth of Kharg’s volume.
The 82nd Airborne Division and Marine expeditionary units have deployed to the region, fueling speculation about a possible ground phase. Rubio’s comments Friday pushed back against that scenario, at least for now.
Operation Epic Fury began February 28, when President Donald Trump announced the elimination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The regime has since named Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as his successor, though the younger Khamenei has yet to make any public appearances.
