WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will open “one way or the other” after US forces struck targets across southern Iran overnight as Washington and Tehran scramble to iron out language in a framework peace deal.
“What’s happening there is unlawful; it’s illegal. It’s unsustainable for the world; it’s unacceptable,” Rubio told reporters in Jaipur, India following the strikes that targeted two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boats that were allegedly laying mines in the crucial waterway.
“The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls,” the secretary went on. “And obviously, that needs to happen immediately as soon as anything’s agreed to.”
Iran’s government denounced the strikes as a “gross violation” of the cease-fire that has been in effect since April 8.
“The commission of these aggressive acts, coinciding with the ongoing diplomatic process being mediated by Pakistan, has once again made clear to the Iranian nation, the people of the region, and the international community the ill will and bad faith of the ruling regime in America,” Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“It has shown that the principled approach of the Iranian nation — in all three arenas of the battlefield, the street, and diplomacy — which is based on deep suspicion toward the American regime, stems from logic and a profound understanding of the hateful and criminal nature and conduct of that regime toward the Iranian people.”
The ministry further threatened that it “will not leave any assault unanswered and will show no hesitation whatsoever in defending the sovereignty and integrity of Iran.”
The back-and-forth followed a weekend of high anxiety in Washington as critics worried President Trump would sign a deal with Iran that would see the US give up its greatest leverage — the blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports and the threat of renewed war — without nuclear concessions.
On Tuesday, Rubio cautioned that Trump was “either going to make a good deal or no deal.”
“I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document,” he said. “So it’ll take a few days.”
Trump himself made clear on Sunday that while negotiations were proceeding “nicely,” he will only accept “a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all.”
He added that would mean the US would return “back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”
