Rubio: Trump Has Yet to Decide on Resuming Attacks on Iran, Prefers Diplomatic Solution

[Financial News]  

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the 31st of last month (local time) that US President Donald Trump had not decided to resume attacks on Iran. He emphasized that the president prefers a diplomatic solution.
At a press conference that day during the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Secretary Rubio said President Trump had “not yet decided” to resume a large-scale military operation against Iran.
He explained that when the president recently said a new attack on Iran would be large-scale, brief and swift, he was “emphasizing that the United States remains the country with the most powerful military on earth,” adding, “If we want to, we can achieve our military objectives.”
Rubio went on to say, “The president, however, does not prefer that approach,” and noted, “If he did, he would have done so weeks or months ago.” He emphasized, “The president prefers a diplomatic solution.”
He argued that Trump’s remarks expressed confidence in the United States’ military capabilities. Rubio said, “What the president was trying to say was that, if military action is necessary, the United States has the capability to carry it out and the confidence that it has everything needed to succeed,” adding, “But the United States prefers to have things resolved peacefully.”
Rubio went on to say that talks with Iran to end the war “have in fact never been suspended,” adding, “There are times when we negotiate directly, but active dialogue frequently continues through intermediaries.”
Rubio also said President Trump would hold separate bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, respectively, at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Shenzhen, China, next month, and at the US G20 summit in December.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter