US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that America did not need ground troops to succeed in the war with Iran, which he said would end within weeks rather than months. Speaking after a meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers in Paris, Mr. Rubio said the US campaign was progressing ahead of schedule and could achieve its objectives without committing to a prolonged ground conflict.

Mr. Rubio said the United States had not received a formal response from Iran to President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for ending the war. Mr. Trump has said that peace talks are underway and going well, but Iranian officials have said that contacts between the two countries have been minimal and mostly indirect, not yet amounting to real negotiations.