On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Washington’s military campaign against Iran, “Operation Epic Fury”, had concluded. He further added that any subsequent American military action would be defensive in nature rather than part of an ongoing offensive operation.
During the hearing, Rubio announced, “We’re no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over.”
The AFP reported that Rubio made these remarks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing when members of Congress questioned the administration’s assessment of the conflict and its aftermath.
Democratic Opposition
“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.
There was vehement opposition from Democrats who continue to question the administration’s assertion that the war has reached its end while American troops remain stationed in the region.
Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs said, “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.”
She continued: “I’d like to talk about the war in Iran. Yesterday, in your testimony, you told Senator Booker that the war in Iran is over. This is news to me. It’s also news to my 2,500 constituents Marines, San Diego, Marines, in the Middle East, the other of my constituents who are deployed there and the thousands more of my constituents who have 48-hour deployment notices whose families are still very concerned.”
‘Reckless War Of Choice’
In a further exchange during the hearing, Jacobs accused Rubio of failing to recognise that the administration was “losing this reckless war of choice”.
The peace talks have reached a stalemate. While Iran’s uranium stockpile remains untouched, Tehran insists on the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme.
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 the US’s involvement in the war without Congress’s formal approval.
