U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Iran is still seeking to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, calling that unacceptable for the United States. He also reaffirmed that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
His remarks, made as talks on ending the war with Iran face difficulties, were widely seen as a clear statement of U.S. red lines.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that if Iran’s idea of keeping the strait “open” means, “Yes, it’s open, but you have to coordinate with Iran, get our permission, and if not we’ll attack you, and you have to pay a toll,” then “that’s not opening the strait.”
“The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway,” Rubio said, adding that the United States cannot accept Iran “normalizing” a system in which it decides who can use the waterway and how much they must pay to do so.
Earlier, U.S. political news outlet Axios reported that Iran, through mediators, had sent the United States a proposal to first open the Strait of Hormuz and declare an end to the war, then continue nuclear talks later.
Rubio’s comments appeared to argue that what Iran calls opening the strait would amount to controlled passage rather than free navigation.
Rubio also said Iran seeks to threaten the world with nuclear weapons, “the way it does now with oil,” and to hold the world hostage to get what it wants. “That is unacceptable,” he said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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