US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in US-Israeli attacks and has not been seen in public since assuming office, is alive and increasingly active.

“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.

Read: US-Iran conversations ongoing ‘continuously’: Trump

Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning as the Trump administration seeks congressional approval for its proposed 30% cut to the foreign affairs budget and a 50% increase in military spending.

He was to appear at three other hearings later on Tuesday and on Wednesday, as his fellow Republicans have been showing signs of concern about the Iran war.

Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was a senator from Florida until January 2025, and lawmakers said they hoped their former colleague would spell out a strategy for ending the Iran conflict, which started with strikes by the US and Israel on February 28.

The Secretary of State expressed hope for a deal with Iran, while insisting that Tehran must severely limit its nuclear program to see sanctions lifted.

“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” Rubio said.

Rubio said that Tehran must agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas.

“They have to announce very clearly ‘The straits are now open, we’re not charging a toll’.” We will help remove the mines that they put in there, and they will not fire on ships.”

Additionally, he said: “They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and/or cancellation of enrichment activity.”

Rubio continued: “Iran is being sanctioned because they’ve highly enriched uranium, Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities, if they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief.”

He insisted that any sanctions relief was tied to Tehran giving up its nuclear program.

“Right now, everything that’s been discussed with them (Iran) is that … any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program,” Rubio told a Senate hearing.

Constituents didn’t ask for regime change: Senator

Rubio has joined other top administration officials in speaking to members of Congress about the Iran war behind closed doors, but has not testified publicly on the conflict.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel, blasted Rubio for failing to provide information to Congress about the administration’s plans.

“When I talk to my constituents, they ask for economic relief at home, not regime change in Havana or Caracas or Tehran,” she said.

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“Instead, you sent Congress a war powers notification saying we are not in active hostilities with Iran, while the US was conducting strikes against Iran, and Iran was bombing US embassies and bases throughout the Middle East. That was not consultation, it was an attempt to avoid answering this committee and this Congress about this war.”

Americans have voiced mounting frustration over rising prices, and Trump’s fellow Republicans hope he can get the Strait of Hormuz reopened and lower US gasoline prices before the November elections that will decide whether the party retains its slim majorities in Congress.

Trump must also contend with Iran hawks in his party who oppose any concessions to Tehran.

Will there be a deal to end war?

Trump and his supporters insist the war would have been worthwhile if it had kept Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump also insists that gasoline prices will come down and has insisted for weeks that he will reach a good deal to end the conflict.

Iran wants an interim agreement with sanctions relief that would allow it access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, but Washington has continued to add sanctions against Iranian actors while talks have taken place.

Rubio did not specify when there might be such a deal. He said Iran had intended to build up its conventional weapons capabilities as a “shield” for its nuclear program.

Read More: Iranian attacks damaged 20 US military sites since war began, satellite imagery shows

“What they tried to do is they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield,” he said, spelling out why Trump felt it was imperative to launch the war.

Lawmakers, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, have been increasingly questioning the fighting, as the Iran conflict enters its fourth month.

Last month, the Senate voted to advance a war powers resolution that would end the Iran conflict unless Trump obtains Congress’ authorization. Days later, House leaders abruptly postponed a vote on a similar resolution when it looked likely to pass.