US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that negotiations with Iran over a ceasefire extension and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will require several more days, as new American strikes in southern Iran complicated the fragile diplomatic picture.

Speaking to reporters before departing India, Rubio said talks are ongoing but complex. “There is a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document,” he said. “So, it’ll take a few days.”

Rubio emphasized that President Donald Trump is unwilling to accept an unsatisfactory agreement, and said the central sticking point at this stage is the status of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which a significant portion of the world’s oil supply passes. Iran had sought to charge tolls for ships transiting the strait — a condition the US flatly rejected.

“The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls,” Rubio said.

The remarks came despite the US having launched new strikes against Iranian targets in the south, an action that raised questions about the durability of the ceasefire framework already in place.

In a separate development with implications for the Iran portfolio and broader Middle East diplomacy, Rubio has promoted his longtime aide Michael Needham to the post of assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser, according to a source familiar with the matter. The appointment was first reported by Axios.

Needham, who currently serves as State Department counselor, previously served as Rubio’s chief of staff in the US Senate and as chief executive of Heritage Action for America, a conservative grassroots advocacy organization.
In his new role, Needham will serve alongside Rubio, who holds the dual position of secretary of state and acting national security adviser — an arrangement that has given the State Department unusual influence over the administration’s foreign policy apparatus.

Though Needham has largely kept a lower public profile, he has been a central figure in several key diplomatic initiatives, including negotiations around potential US involvement in Greenland and, notably, the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades, which culminated in a ceasefire agreement earlier this year.