'Epic Fury is over': Rubio says war over even as Iran, US continue exchange of strikes - Moneycontrol.com
The US Secretary's statement came even as Iran on Wednesday announced retaliatory strikes on an enemy vessel, the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in
The US Secretary's statement came even as Iran on Wednesday announced retaliatory strikes on an enemy vessel, the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and a regional American airbase after US attacks on an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and a telecommunications tower on the Persian Gulf island of Qeshm. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. US claims victory in war with Iran, ending Operation Epic Fury Iran retaliates with strikes on US bases and allies in the region US House passes resolution to restrict Trump's war powers on Iran Did our AI summary help? US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said the war with Iran was over even as Washington and Tehran continued to engage in deadly strikes. Asserting that the US has already secured victory in the war with Iran, Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, "We're no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over." "We define victory as destroying their (Iran's) defence industrial base, significantly reducing the number of missile launchers that they possess, significantly reducing their stockpile of drones...we achieved all those, in addition to destroying what they had left of an air force and wiping out their entire conventional navy," said Rubio, as reported by AFP.
The US Secretary's statement came even as Iran on Wednesday announced retaliatory strikes on an enemy vessel, the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and a regional American airbase after US attacks on an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and a telecommunications tower on the Persian Gulf island of Qeshm. According to Press TV, the Iranian Navy also targeted a command-and-control centre aboard a US destroyer in the Sea of Oman that was identified as the source of recent acts of aggression against Iran. The US-Israeli war, which Washington dubbed Operation Epic Fury, has wreaked havoc in the Middle East since the first strikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting US allies in the region and effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas. Rubio faced vehement opposition from Democrats, who argued the conflict is still raging, with Iran striking Kuwait's airport on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding 63 in a major escalation of the conflict.
Bahrain, which like Kuwait hosts a significant US military presence, also saw overnight drone strikes from Iran. However, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said its airforce did not fire any missiles toward Kuwait’s passenger terminal. An error in the American Patriot systems led to the destruction of the Kuwait airport passenger terminal. The systems, according to IRGC, missed the Iranian missiles and then crashed into the terminal. "You can change the name of the operation. It doesn't change the fact that the Strait's still closed, and my service members, and all of our service members, are still in harm's way," Representative Sara Jacobs of California told Rubio, reported AFP. Rubio briefed lawmakers on the ongoing talks with Iran, emphasizing that Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains a key sticking point in the negotiations. He noted that Iran has yet to accept the terms of a proposed peace agreement. The US maintains that any peace deal must include Iran surrendering its near-weapons-grade uranium reserves, limiting its nuclear programme, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.
"I think now, in some of the papers that have been exchanged back and forth, it's clearly addressed, but we...still don't have final sign off from their system as of this morning," Rubio told the House committee. Iran has insisted on the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme, and dismissed earlier comments by US President Donald Trump who suggested that its stockpile of enriched uranium would ultimately be destroyed. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has approved a Democratic-led War Powers Resolution aimed at restricting President Donald Trump’s ability to continue the war with Iran without congressional authorisation. The measure seeks to end US involvement in the Iran conflict unless Congress formally authorises hostilities.
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