Rubio Says Iran Uses Strait of Hormuz as 'Economic Nuclear Weapon'
The remarks come after several other outlets reported that Iran had forwarded a new proposal to Washington — one that would reopen the critical waterway and halt ongoing hostilities, while pushing nuclear negotiations to a future date.
Appearing on a news agency Monday, Rubio made clear he was unconvinced. "If what they mean by opening the straits is, 'Yes, the straits are open, as long as 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.
The Secretary further warned that allowing Iran to exert de facto dominance over the passage would set a dangerous global precedent. "This is not the Suez Canal, this is not the Panama Canal, these are international waters. And if that's normalized, not only does that set a precedent in the Middle East, it sets a precedent all over the world," he argued, calling the strait "the equivalent of an economic nuclear weapon that they're trying to use against the world."
On the nuclear file itself, Rubio was equally uncompromising. "Suffice it to say that the nuclear question is the reason why we're in this in the first place," he said, signaling that Washington has no intention of sidelining the issue.
Rubio also pushed back against any notion that pragmatic voices exist within Tehran's ruling structure, flatly declaring, "they're all hardliners in Iran." He went further, warning of a long-term threat should the current government remain in power: "There's no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon… That fundamental issue still has to be confronted. That still remains the core issue here."
The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump had reviewed Iran's latest proposal. However, multiple individuals familiar with the internal deliberations told The New York Times that Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the offer. A senior US official additionally noted that accepting the proposal risked undermining the president's longstanding position that Iran's nuclear infrastructure must be fully dismantled — a concession that could be perceived as a political setback.
Tehran, for its part, has consistently denied any ambition to develop nuclear arms, and has refused US demands to relinquish its enriched uranium stockpiles or dismantle its nuclear program.
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