"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. Trump notified Congress. The objectives have been achieved, now it's Operation Project Freedom."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this at a press briefing.

In short, it's no longer a time for war and attacks, but rather to liberate Hormuz and negotiate. And if Trump is pushing to include the issue of enriched uranium in the negotiations, it's clear that not all of Epic Fury's objectives have been achieved.

Rubio was evasive, however, about the conclusion of the war and the objectives achieved with the operation, and focused first on the new operation, the one to liberate the Strait of Hormuz.

«The goal of Project Freedom – he said – is to save almost 23 thousand civilians, from 80 different countries, who have remained trapped in the Gulf and abandoned to their fate by the Iranian regime» .

The Hormuz operation "is not an offensive operation," the Secretary of State clarified. "It's a defensive operation. And the meaning of that is very simple: you don't shoot unless they shoot first. We're not attacking them. We're not doing that, but if they were to attack a ship, we would have to respond: you don't shoot unless they shoot first. And so far, we've been successful in that regard."

Rubio finally called on Iran to make "a sensible choice" and sit down at the negotiating table , embarking on the diplomatic path that would lead to "reconstruction, prosperity, and stability, and to no longer posing a threat to the world." Tehran must "accept the reality of the situation and sit down at the negotiating table, accepting terms that are beneficial not only to itself, but also to the world. They should absolutely not test the will of the United States."

Rubio will be in Italy in the next few days, where he will meet Pope Leo (the meeting was scheduled "before Trump's attacks", he specified, underlining that the US has always "collaborated" with the Vatican) and Giorgia Meloni ( "We will certainly consult Italy on Lebanon, it can be very useful in that country because it has trained the Lebanese police and security forces" ).