US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that a deal to end the war with Iran could materialise "today", adding that Israel had the right to defend itself against attack.
"We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today, I wouldn't read too much into it," Rubio said in New Delhi, referring to the potential agreement.
"We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open," he told reporters as he departed the Indian capital, where he has been on an official visit.
"It has a lot of support in the Gulf... every country that we've walked through it (with) understands it's not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done."
Rubio also voiced confidence that Iran would "enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter".
He addressed reporters ahead of the next leg of his India visit, which will see him travel to Agra, the northern city famous for the Taj Mahal.
Rubio's remarks came after US President Donald Trump tempered expectations of a deal, saying on Sunday he had told his negotiators not to "rush".
"He's not in a hurry, he's not going to make a bad deal, and the president's not going to make a bad agreement," Rubio said of Trump.
The war erupted after the United States and Israel attacked the Islamic republic on February 28, and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region. Washington and Tehran have observed a ceasefire since April 8.
Rubio told reporters that "Israel always has a right to protect itself".
"If Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launches missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that, or to prevent that from happening," he said.
"That's always been understood. It's being understood during the ceasefire."
India not opposed to Pakistan’s role as mediator
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said India is always “concerned” about Pakistan but has not raised any concerns over Islamabad’s role as a mediator.
Rubio was speaking to reporters when he was asked whether New Delhi had raised any objections to Pakistan’s role as a mediator.
Responding to the question, Rubio said that while India has long pointed to the presence of militant groups operating from Pakistani territory, it has not raised objections to Islamabad’s role as a mediator.
“They're always concerned about it, obviously. India is always pointing to the fact that there are terrorist groups operating from Pakistani territory that target India. They're always concerned about that. But as far as the role they played as a mediator and a facilitator in the Iran situation, it never came up. I don't think that they would complain about that. I mean, their issue with Pakistan is different."
Pakistan has emerged as a key negotiator between the US and Iran amid ongoing conflict. A US-brokered ceasefire, in which Pakistani mediation reportedly played a central role, has held for six weeks.
Islamabad has continued to intensify its efforts to facilitate a broader agreement between the two sides. In its latest move, Pakistan’s army chief recently visited Tehran as discussions over a possible peace deal appear to be advancing.
US President Donald Trump also said he agreed to the ceasefire “as a favour” to Pakistan, while praising Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “We really did the ceasefire at the request of other nations. I wouldn't have really been in favour of it, but we did it as a favour to Pakistan — terrific people, the field marshal and the prime minister,” Trump said.
Earlier in an interview with New York Times, Marco Rubio said the United States was prepared to enter "into very serious talks" about Iran's nuclear programme if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
The remarks suggested that Washington may take a phased approach and accept an interim agreement that did not immediately address Iran's nuclear programme.
"You can't do a nuclear thing in 72 hours on the back of a napkin," Rubio told the newspaper in a brief interview during his visit to New Delhi.
"The straits have to be immediately reopened, and then we will enter, under agreed-to parameters, into very serious talks about enrichment, about the highly enriched uranium and about their pledge to never have nuclear weapons," Rubio said.
"It can't take years, but it'll take some time to work through those technical matters," Rubio added.
The state secretary suggested that the United States could renew its threats to attack Iran if the negotiations do not bear fruit within two months. "Ultimately, the approach has to deliver what we want it to deliver," Rubio said.
"If it doesn't, then the president has every option available to him in 60 days that he has available to him now."
Neither the United States nor Iran has released details publicly. Many critics have said such a phased deal could take away US President Donald Trump's leverage in further negotiations.
Rubio also reiterated President Trump's stance that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. He said, "On the Iran situation, there'll be, I believe, maybe more news coming out a little bit later today on this topic. And I'll leave it to the president to make further announcements on it. Suffice it to say that some progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress has been made. Ultimately, here's, I remind everybody, I think this ties into the second question that was asked with relations to it. What is the goal here? The goal here ultimately, the ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. The President has been clear about that they will never possess a nuclear weapon, certainly not as long as Donald Trump is president of the United States."
He stressed that US and its partners in the Gulf region have been working on an outline that could lead to a completely open Strait of Hormuz without tolls. However, he mentioned that it requires that Iran fully accepts and implements it.–Agencies