U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Tuesday that allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz would establish a dangerous international precedent, and affirmed that the United States will continue to safeguard global shipping lanes.
"If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation-state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region," Rubio said at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila.
Rubio indicated that Iran's purported refusal to honor its commitments to reopen the Strait of Hormuz suggests Tehran is not serious about diplomatic solutions. "We remain open to diplomacy. We remain open to working it out in a negotiated way," Rubio told reporters. "But right now they don’t seem to be serious about that."
According to Rubio, Iran had previously agreed to restore "free and fair navigation" through the strait and was expected to issue a public statement reaffirming this commitment approximately a week and a half prior. Instead of issuing the statement, he said, Iran "targeted and blew up or hit a ship."
Rubio asserted that these actions rendered the existing agreement invalid. "All these things are compliance based," he explained. "If you make a deal, if you sign onto an agreement, and then you violate the agreement, the agreement’s no longer valid."
These comments coincide with the Trump administration's ongoing efforts against Iranian threats in the Persian Gulf, with a commitment to maintain military pressure until Tehran recommits to its obligations. Rubio suggested that any future diplomatic resolution hinges entirely on Tehran's adherence to its commitments.
Rubio pledged that the U.S. will continue to escort and defend commercial shipping in the region, regardless of allied contributions, though he encouraged other nations to increase their involvement. "We’re going to continue to protect shipping," Rubio stated. "We think other countries should join us in that endeavor. We don’t need them to, but they should because they’re more impacted by it than we are."
He also committed to continuing military operations aimed at degrading Iran's capacity to threaten international commerce, noting that U.S. strikes on Iran might be entering their 12th consecutive day. "We are going to, when the opportunity presents itself, degrade their ability to target global shipping."