Diplomatic agreement with Iran may not be possible, says US' Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that reaching a diplomatic agreement with Iran may not be possible, accusing Tehran of making unrealistic demands and warning that negotiations were not close to a breakthrough.

"You have a number of countries that continue to engage them with different ideas, but I wouldn't say we're on the verge of a breakthrough," Rubio told reporters before departing for Paris to attend a G7 foreign ministers' meeting.

"The president would always prefer to solve this and every problem diplomatically. Sometimes that's not possible, unfortunately," he added.

Rubio said Washington remained willing to explore diplomatic opportunities but characterized the negotiations as unproductive, describing Iranian demands as "outrageous and ridiculous" and unrealistic.

Trump acted despite political costs

Defending President Donald Trump's handling of the war with Iran, now in its ninth month, Rubio argued that Trump had confronted a longstanding threat to US national security despite the potential political consequences.

He said preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons should remain a bipartisan priority.

The remarks came ahead of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris on Monday and Tuesday, where the Iran conflict is among the issues expected to be discussed.

The US and Israel launched a military offensive against Iran on Feb. 28. A ceasefire was reached in April, followed by a memorandum in June aimed at securing a peace agreement, but negotiations have failed to produce a final settlement.

Rubio's remarks come after limited US strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, with Trump confirming Friday that American forces had targeted Iranian air defense systems.

On the circumstances under which Washington could conduct further military strikes, Rubio maintained that US actions were defensive and depended on threats to American forces or maritime traffic.

"Well, the US acts defensively. If there's a threat to our forces in the region, we will act against those. If there's a threat to shipping, we've been defending shipping for a while," he said.

"So if there's a clear and present threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves," he added.

Rubio said any such action would depend on the level of threat and whether Iranian forces were attacking or potentially preparing to attack US interests.