Report: Rubio says no new Iran offensive for now as US focuses on economic pressure, Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told counterparts around the world that Washington does not currently expect to carry out new offensive strikes against Iran, as the Trump administration shifts its focus toward economic pressure and securing the Strait of Hormuz, two sources familiar with the conversations tell Channel 12.

Rubio did not rule out US military action if Iran initiates new hostilities, the sources say.

As Washington pushes new sanctions against Iran and US President Donald Trump asserts that the strait has been cleared of mines endangering ships, the report states that Rubio said the US is shifting to focus on increasing economic pressure on Iran and normalizing shipping through the vital waterway.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out threatened secondary sanctions on Iran in a speech yesterday.

The new approach is expected to remain in place at least through the US midterm elections in early November, after which the possibility of a broader military campaign could again be considered, according to the sources.

Separately, Channel 12 reporter Barak Ravid, who also reports for Axios, says US officials with direct knowledge confirmed Trump’s announcement earlier today that the US Navy had cleared mines from the Strait of Hormuz’s Traffic Separation Scheme, the main shipping corridor between Oman and Iran.

Iran had committed under the defunct US-Iran memorandum of understanding to remove dozens of mines it had deployed in the shipping lane during the war.

Over the past several months, US Navy underwater drones systematically scanned the area and identified more than 100 objects suspected of being mines, which private contractors were then brought in to remove or detonate, according to Axios.

US officials say the operation has made it safe for vessels to transit the strait in both directions under US Air Force protection, potentially allowing a significant increase in tanker traffic.

They argue that clearing the mines sharply reduces Iran’s leverage over global energy markets and in any future negotiations with Washington, while also diminishing the relevance of a draft arrangement Iran and Oman have been discussing for months over the strait’s traffic.

Most data estimates indicate that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains at only around 10-15% of prewar levels.

Trump has also made several contradictory claims regarding whether or not mines were ever planted at all in the strait.