Rubio issues Hormuz toll warning as he wraps up Gulf visit | US-Israel war on Iran News

Rubio’s Gulf tour is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US-Iran framework agreement last week.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that any Iranian tolls on ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways “like a contagion”, as he wrapped up a trip to the Gulf aimed at winning support from regional allies for the United States-Iran interim deal aimed at ending their war.

“International waterways do not belong to any nation-state,” Rubio said on Thursday after joining a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Bahrain.

“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then, this will spread throughout the world like a contagion,” he added.

After the ministerial meeting, the US and Gulf countries released a joint statement which collectively rejected any Iranian fees or restrictions on Strait of Hormuz transit.

It also confirmed that any trade with Tehran remains conditional and reversible and would be tied to Iranian compliance with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the US, and a halt to what the statement described as “destabilising behaviour”, including ballistic missiles, drones and support for regional allied groups.

The group stressed that the Strait of Hormuz must reopen, warning that free and unimpeded passage through the waterway “remains critical to regional and global security”.

The statement also addressed Gaza, calling for a technocratic Palestinian committee to oversee reconstruction; Lebanon, backing disarmament of non-state armed groups; and Iraq, condemning drone attacks by Iran-aligned factions on GCC infrastructure.

Rubio’s three-day tour of the Gulf is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US and Iran agreed on an MoU to extend their ceasefire and to hold talks on a permanent end to the more than 100-day war, which started on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He acknowledged the delicacy of his mission as he sought to win over Gulf Arab leaders, wary that excessive concessions could strengthen Tehran and reshape the region’s security balance and oil flows.

In Manama, Rubio told leaders from Bahrain that the US wants to ensure any agreement with Iran takes into account the “interest of allies”.

He added: “We are open for peace that is enduring and real and doesn’t undermine security and prosperity for the US or its allies.”

Rubio said during a news conference in Manama that a reconstruction fund for Iran was not discussed with Gulf countries.

He said he would not be asking regional allies to contribute to any reconstruction fund during the trip, even as the MoU with Iran suggests that countries in the region would at least be partially responsible for footing the bill.

During his previous stops in the United Arab Emirates ‌and Kuwait, Rubio sought to assure officials that the proposed deal ‌was not overly favourable to Iran, which attacked all the GCC states during the war.

“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” he told reporters in Kuwait.