Marco Rubio has issued a sharp warning to Iran over its stance on the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington will not accept any attempt to control access to international shipping lanes or impose conditions on their use.
Speaking to Fox News, Rubio said proposals framed as opening the straits cannot involve coercion or financial demands.
“If what they mean by opening the strait is… you coordinate with Iran, get our permission or we'll blow you up, and you pay us, that's not opening the straits,” he said.
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He stressed that such waterways are global commons. “Those are international waterways. They cannot normalise, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalise, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it,” Rubio added.
Beyond maritime tensions, Rubio also pointed to internal divisions within Iran's leadership as a barrier to progress in negotiations.
“Unfortunately, the hardliners with an apocalyptic vision of the future have the ultimate power in that country,” he told Fox News.
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He further raised concerns about uncertainty at the top of Iran's political structure, noting that the country's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has had limited public visibility.
“Now that you have a supreme leader whose ability is still untested, whose access is questionable, who has not been seen visibly, publicly — has not spoken. We have not heard his voice,” Rubio said.
The remarks come amid stalled diplomatic efforts, after planned talks in Islamabad were called off. According to Rubio, a revised proposal from Tehran followed shortly after, though broader disagreements over security, access and control of key waterways continue to weigh on negotiations.
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