The United States is hoping to receive a response from the Iranians on Friday that will allow for the start of a “serious process of negotiation,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
“We’re expecting a response from them today at some point,” he said a day after his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Friday. “We have not received that yet as of the last — in the last hour, but perhaps that will come.”
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The Trump administration is looking to make an agreement to end the war, but Iran’s leaders — who reportedly have fractures within the upper echelon of the country’s leadership structure — have not yet budged on American demands.
“Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well, so that may be serving as an impediment,” he added. “I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do.”
While the administration is hoping the Iranian response is one it can work with, it was only a day ago that Iran’s military launched missiles, drones, and small boats at the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason, which were transiting from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman at the time.
U.S. troops stopped the attacks, and no U.S. vessels were struck. U.S. forces also targeted military facilities, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance nodes, which Central Command said were responsible for the attacks.
“What you saw yesterday was U.S. destroyers moving through international waters being fired upon by the Iranians, and the U.S. responded defensively to protect itself,” Rubio said.
President Donald Trump maintained on Thursday that the ceasefire was still in effect even after the most recent Iranian attacks on U.S. forces. There have been multiple instances of Navy vessels coming under Iranian fire this week.
“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” Trump said.
Iran has also launched multiple rounds of missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates this week.
Last Sunday, Trump announced the military would begin guiding commercial vessels through the strait, but on the Oman side of the waterway, further from Iran’s coasts. The start of this initiative, which Trump dubbed “Project Freedom,” prompted Iran’s latest attacks on vessels and the UAE.
Trump announced on Tuesday, just about 48 hours after unveiling “Project Freedom,” that the effort would be paused. He said it was because the two sides had made progress toward a deal to begin negotiations, though reports surfaced that U.S. allies in the region blocked the U.S. from using their airspace and bases for operations, in part because they were likely concerned about Iranian retaliation.
GULF COUNTRIES SEEK TO WEAN THEMSELVES OFF STRAIT OF HORMUZ
The Navy is continuing its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. troops stopped two vessels — the M/T Sea Star II and M/T Sevda — trying to evade the blockade on Friday. A Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS George H.W. Bush fired precision munitions into both tankers’ smokestacks, disabling both tankers. U.S. forces also disabled the M/T Hasna on Wednesday.
“There are currently more than 70 tankers that U.S. forces are preventing from entering or leaving Iranian ports. These commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion-plus,” CENTCOM said.
Rubio’s trip to Rome follows a public spat between Trump and the pope about the war, though the secretary was quick to downplay it; he said the meeting predated the comments and the two sides have a long history of working together. He also met with Italian leaders, who have also been in the president’s crosshairs for their stance on the war.
The president has expressed his frustration in recent weeks with European countries that did not help the U.S. try to end Iran’s blockade of the strait, while a couple went so far as to try to block U.S. access to bases in those countries for attacks on Iran.
US, IRAN LOCKED IN AN OXYMORONIC ‘SHOOTING CEASEFIRE’ NEAR THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
“If one of the main reasons why the U.S. is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other contingencies, and that’s now no longer the case, at least when it comes to some NATO members, then we have a problem,” Rubio said.
The Pentagon announced it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany over the next six to 12 months, following comments from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, though it’s unclear yet whether they will be deployed to another European country or brought back to the U.S.
