Rubio plans travel to France to sell Iran war to skeptical G7 allies

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to France this week to try to sell America’s skeptical Group of Seven allies on the strategy of that has sent , the State Department said Tuesday.

Rubio will attend a G7 foreign ministers meeting near Versailles outside of Paris on Friday “to advance key U.S. interests” and “discuss shared security concerns and opportunities for cooperation,” the department said.

“Areas of focus will include the , the situation in the Middle East, and threats across the world to peace and stability,” the department said in a statement released amid conflicting accounts over about a resolution to the conflict.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. and Iran have had discussions, although Iran has denied it. And numerous other countries are involved in nascent efforts to find an off-ramp to the crisis, which has caused the price of oil to skyrocket with the to most shipping, including tankers.

Nearly all of the other G7 nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — have reacted coolly at best to the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran and have declined to participate, drawing Trump's ire even as he maintains the U.S. doesn't need their help.

a number of G7 members and NATO allies for not responding to his , although in recent days several of them had indicated a willingness to back appropriate action to .