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Secretary Rubio Answers Press Questions in France After the G7, Mar. 27, 2026

March 27, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:19:36

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered questions at Le Bourget Airport in France on March 27, 2026, after G7 foreign ministers’ meetings dominated by the Iran operation. He restated the mission’s objectives as set “from the very first night the President announced it”: destroy Iran’s navy and air force, destroy its ability to make missiles and drones, and dramatically reduce its missile launchers so it cannot hide behind them to build a nuclear weapon. The operation is “on or ahead of schedule,” he said, and expected to conclude “in a matter of weeks, not months” — achievable, he added, “without any ground troops.” Deployments underway give the President optionality for contingencies.

Rubio warned that an immediate post-operation challenge could be an Iranian tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz: “Not only is this illegal; it’s unacceptable,” and countries worldwide — with the UK playing a prominent role in organizing a response — should contribute to ensuring no international waterway is controlled or tolled by a nation-state or “a terroristic government like the one that exists in Iran today.” On Russia-Ukraine, he said nothing had yet been diverted from the NATO-funded PURL sales pipeline, though U.S. needs would come first if they arose; he called the claim that U.S. security guarantees were conditioned on Ukraine withdrawing from Donbas “a lie,” saying guarantees by definition begin only after the war ends and the territorial decision is Ukraine’s. On Cuba, he dismissed reporting sourced outside himself and the President, answered “Yes” when asked if he still wants regime change, and argued Cuba’s economy cannot change unless its system of government changes.

Why it matters

The France availability is the Secretary’s most complete wartime accounting to the traveling press in this stretch: dated objectives, a weeks-not-months timeline claim, a no-ground-troops assurance, and the Hormuz tolling warning that became the through-line of his spring diplomacy in Rome and Helsingborg.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard candidate: the stated timeline and objectives for the Iran operation — conclusion in weeks not months, without ground troops, as stated by Secretary Rubio on March 27, 2026. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio Remarks to the Press in France” (official upload, embedded above); transcript via state.gov as linked in the upload description. Remarks as delivered.