Rubio says US combat operations against Iran are ‘over’; Tehran warns threats continued even as diplomatic efforts were underway

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: May 06, 2026 12:21 PM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said that the combat operations launched in February against Iran had ended, while Tehran warned threats continued even as diplomatic efforts were underway.

According to CNN, Rubio, who said combat operations launched against Iran in February had concluded, told reporters at the White House that the US was focused on the new operation, which he described as the “first step” toward fully reopening the critical waterway — the Strait of Hormuz.

“We’re now on to this Project Freedom,” a military operation the Pentagon launched Monday to guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio went ahead, noting Washington’s priority now was reopening the crucial global energy waterway, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Also on Tuesday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remains open to negotiations with the US but will not yield to pressure, Iran International reported. He said Iran had been targeted during past rounds of negotiations and warned that threats continued even as diplomatic efforts were underway.

Hours after Rubio’s claims, US President Donald Trump announced that the US military operation guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz will be paused for a short period, citing a request from Pakistan and progress toward a final agreement with Iran, though he insisted that the US naval blockade will remain fully in effect, Al Jazeera reported.

The operation, which Trump had announced Sunday evening, took effect Monday. Soon after, the US and Iranian militaries traded shots and accusations, raising questions about the fragile ceasefire, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, Iran launched a new mechanism to govern maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported, citing Iran’s state-run Press TV. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy again warned that any ships intending to transit the strait could be met with “decisive action.”

What happens next is unclear, a report by BBC noted. The US administration had stressed that Project Freedom was a “separate and distinct” campaign from the blockade, which is meant to pressure Iran economically, per the report.

Zhu Yongbiao, a Middle East affairs expert with Lanzhou University, told the Global Times, on Wednesday. that challenges still persist, as the US continues to pursue a pressure approach toward Iran, seeking to gain more leverage at the negotiating table.

However it’s noticeable that the two sides have basically formed a tacit understanding since their initial contact — neither party wishes the conflict to escalate or persist and both seek to contain costs in military, political and time dimensions, the expert noted. He added that while the risk of intense conflict cannot be entirely ruled out, a tilt toward negotiations between the two sides seems to be taking shape as a general trend.