Secretary of State Marco Rubio Says Iran Talks Have Made No Progress Because Tehran's Demands Are "Outrageous and Ridiculous and Really Not Realistic," Warning "I Wouldn't Say We're on the Verge of a Breakthrough" as He Leaves Florida for a G7 Meeting in Paris
Monday, November 9, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida on Sunday, before departing for a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in France, and gave a plain verdict on the Iran talks: they have made no progress, because Tehran's demands are, in his words, “outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.” Speaking to reporters on arrival, Rubio said, “Right now it hasn't been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic” — and warned, “I wouldn't say we're on the verge of a breakthrough.”
Rubio did not close the door. He said Washington would explore a diplomatic solution if an opportunity emerged, although such efforts were not always possible. That is the position President Trump has set from the top: Trump says he expects a diplomatic solution with Iran this time, and has said further American strikes are “highly unlikely” if the talks produce a strong agreement. Tehran's side, stated by its own officials, is that the talks wait while Washington “digests” the midterm results, and that Tehran's own two-day plan — including reopening the Strait of Hormuz if its conditions are met — stands. Each side's position is its own; what Rubio added on Sunday is that, on America's reading, the obstacle is the demands themselves.
Rubio also defended the president's handling of Iran. “The president took on something that other presidents have failed to do,” he said, adding that confronting difficult security challenges was sometimes unpopular but necessary. And asked about possible U.S. military action, he drew the line at defence: “If there's a threat to shipping or to our forces in the region, we have a right to defend ourselves.” American forces, on his account, would respond defensively to threats against U.S. personnel or commercial shipping — protection, stated as protection, not a threat of new strikes.
What this means: for ordinary households, the point that lands at home is the shipping. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's great energy routes, and Rubio's stated position is that American forces will defend commercial shipping through it — the trade and energy flows that feed into the prices families pay. His stated aim is a diplomatic solution reached without conceding demands Washington calls unrealistic, and a defensive posture that protects people and shipping rather than opening a new front. That is the administration's stated position; whether Tehran moves is the test.
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