U.S. Pushes ‘Weeks, Not Months’ Iran Timeline as Hormuz Shipping Crisis Deepens

By Parisa Hafezi, Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland

DUBAI/WASHINGTON/PARIS, March 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. expects its operation against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

Rubio told reporters after meeting G7 counterparts in France that Washington was “on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here – a matter of weeks, not months.”

While he said Washington could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region “to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge.”

Washington has dispatched two contingents of thousands of Marines to the region, the first of which is due to arrive around the end of March aboard a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.

The deployments have raised concerns that an air war that has already disrupted global energy supplies could turn into a prolonged ground battle.

But U.S. President Donald Trump has also emphasized this week what he has described as productive negotiations aimed at a diplomatic solution to the war, despite repeated assertions from Tehran that no such talks have begun. On Thursday, Trump extended a deadline by 10 days for Iran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face attacks against its civilian energy grid. 

NEW STRIKES ON IRAN

Iranian media reported strikes on Iran’s decommissioned heavy-water nuclear research reactor and a factory producing yellowcake uranium late on Friday, and said there were no radiation leaks or danger arising from either attack. Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency there was no increase in off-site radiation levels at the yellowcake facility, the IAEA said on X, adding that it would look into the report.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X that Israel, in coordination with the U.S., had also hit two steel factories and a power plant. “Attack contradicts POTUS extended deadline for diplomacy. Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,” Araqchi said, using an acronym for the president.

A senior Iranian told Reuters that Tehran had not decided whether to respond to a 15-point proposal the U.S. sent this week after attacks on industrial and nuclear infrastructure on Friday. The official said Iran had expected its response to be delivered on Friday or Saturday, but said the continuing strikes while the U.S. was seeking talks was “intolerable.”

The U.S. proposal, sent via Pakistan two days ago, is reported to include demands ranging from dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile programs to relinquishing control of the world’s most important trade route for energy supplies.

The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies, hitting the global economy with soaring oil, gas and fertilizer prices that have fueled inflation fears.

In Iran, more than 1,900 people have been killed and at least 20,000 injured, said Maria Martinez of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Attacks on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah have also prompted an Israeli onslaught that has displaced a fifth of Lebanon’s population.

IRAN STILL POSSESSES MISSILES

The United States, which has set out to neutralize Iran’s long-range strike capabilities, can only confirm that about a third of the country’s missile arsenal has been destroyed, five people familiar with the U.S. intelligence told Reuters.

As the damage mounts and with no end in sight, Gulf Arab states are telling the U.S. that any deal must not merely end the war but also permanently curb Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and ensure global energy supplies are never again weaponised, four Gulf sources said. 

Far from being laid low, Iran’s clerical rulers and the increasingly powerful Guards are still peppering the region with airstrikes, driving up energy prices and roiling financial markets.

While a third of Iran’s missile stock may still be available for use, another third is likely to be damaged or buried in tunnels, some of which could be recovered once fighting stops, said four of the sources familiar with U.S. intelligence, who asked to remain anonymous.

One source said the intelligence on Iran’s drone capability was similar, with about a third most likely destroyed.

Stock markets continued their slide on Friday, while the Brent crude oil benchmark LCOc1 topped $112, having risen more than 50% since the war began.

In the U.S., where Trump is politically vulnerable to rising fuel prices, diesel in California hit an all-time high at an average $7.17 a gallon, the American Automobile Association said.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff and Simon Lewis; Editing by Alexander Smith, Rod Nickel)

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This article contains reporting from Reuters, published under license.

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