[Rubio: U.S.-Iran Talks Ongoing, Agreement Timeline Uncertain] Odaily Planet Daily News – U.S. Secretary of State Rubio stated during a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the 2nd that the United States is still negotiating with Iran, but he is uncertain when an agreement might be reached. This marks Rubio's first testimony in Congress following the large-scale military operation launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran at the end of February. When responding to questions from lawmakers about the progress of U.S.-Iran negotiations, he said, 'We are negotiating with Iran,' and that Iran 'has agreed to negotiate on certain aspects of its nuclear program, whereas just a month ago, or even a year ago, they were unwilling to negotiate at all.' Rubio stated that an agreement with Iran 'could be reached today, tomorrow, or next week,' but emphasized that this 'does not guarantee that a final agreement approved by Congress will ultimately be reached.' Rubio also mentioned that the U.S. has not proposed lifting sanctions on Iran or allowing it to access frozen funds as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. 'This has never been discussed or proposed. Any sanction relief must be conditional. This means that the prerequisite must address the root cause of why these sanctions were imposed in the first place, namely Iran's nuclear program.' (Jin10)