- The United States rejects any future payments over the Strait of Hormuz.
- Washington seeks an agreement without compromising regional stability.
- Talks at a technical level between Iran and the United States will resume in the coming days.
Top US diplomat Marco Rubio warned Thursday that a deal with Iran would not be achieved at any price, as he sought to assure Gulf allies that any eventual deal would not undermine their security.
Rubio was in Bahrain as part of a regional tour of Gulf partners hard hit by Iran during the Middle East war, which began on February 28 with a massive campaign of US-Israeli attacks against the Islamic Republic.
The United States and Iran have signed a preliminary agreement to end the conflict, embarking on negotiations that are expected to address thorny issues such as Tehran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and global energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
“While we want a deal, we don’t want a deal at any price,” Rubio said at a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.
“We want to ensure… that there is no part of this agreement that in any way undermines the security, stability or prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region.”
Hormuz rates
Rubio also sought to assure the energy-rich Gulf that the Strait of Hormuz, which they have depended on for decades to export oil and liquefied natural gas, would remain free.
Iran imposed a blockade of Hormuz during the war as part of its retaliation against the US-Israeli campaign, causing a global economic shock.
It has since said it plans to introduce what it calls tariffs for maritime services, and the Revolutionary Guard warned on Thursday that it would “deal with any unauthorized crossings.”
The United States and its allies have flatly rejected the introduction of tariffs or tolls, and Rubio reiterated Washington’s position that Hormuz should be considered an international waterway and therefore not subject to charges.
“International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a fundamental principle in today’s world, without which the world would be in total chaos,” he said.
Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and Oman that leads to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, making it a bottleneck for crucial energy shipments from the Gulf.
At Thursday’s Gulf meeting with Rubio, Oman’s top diplomat, Badr Albusaidi, said the plans for Hormuz “do not involve the imposition of any transit fees,” even though his government and Iran said on Tuesday they were studying the costs that would be charged for services provided in the strait.
On Wednesday, Oman published a map of a new temporary shipping route running near its coast. He said the path through the strait was coordinated with the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency responsible for maritime security.
Iran later appeared to denounce the new corridor in a Revolutionary Guard statement, but did not specifically refer to Oman.
The memorandum of understanding signed last week by Tehran and Washington stipulated that commercial ships will be able to transit the strait free of charge for the next 60 days.
It is unclear what agreements will be implemented after that period.
‘Declaration of the defeat of the United States’
Iran has emerged from the war emboldened, vowing not to relinquish control of Hormuz and calling its initial agreement with Washington to stop the fighting “a declaration of US defeat.”
President Donald Trump met with NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday and said the United States was doing “very well” in the negotiations.
Trump also asked Congress for nearly $88 billion in supplemental funding, primarily to cover the cost of the war, just one day after Congress asked him to end the conflict unless lawmakers explicitly authorized new military action.
Iran sharply criticized NATO on Thursday after Rutte signaled its support for the United States, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accusing the transatlantic bloc of “complicity” in an “illegal war.”
Rubio and mediator Pakistan said technical talks between the United States and Iran were expected to resume in the coming days after a first round in Switzerland.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a diplomat said separate talks on reconciliation between the Gulf countries and Iran were expected to be held in Saudi Arabia, although they did not specify a date.
