United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the Iranian government is using the Strait of Hormuz as an “economic nuclear weapon”. Rubio added that the U.S. ruling class will not allow Iran to continue to use the vital waterway to control the direction of the war.
According to multiple sources, including Axios, Iran has passed a new offer to Washington, which includes a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, while deferring nuclear negotiations to a later stage.
While speaking on Fox News on Monday, as reported by RT, Rubio was skeptical of the latest overture. “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.
Rubio also argued that Iran’s control over the waterway would create a dangerous 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.”
“Suffice it to say that the nuclear question is the reason why we’re in this in the first place,” he said, referring to Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran continues to insist that its program is for peaceful purposes only, a claim which the U.S. continues to reject.
Rubio also said that the Islamic Republic does not have any true moderates among its leadership. “They’re all hardliners in Iran.” “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.”
But the U.S. is trying to push for a radial theorcracy too. From war chief Pete Hegseth, to the president, Donald Trump, the push for Christian Nationalism is all to real and noticeable.
Christian Nationalism and Trump’s Weaponization of Religion
Trump has been briefed on Iran’s propsal, but was unhappy with it. Multiple people briefed on the discussions told the New York Times that the president was not satisfied, and a U.S. official has suggested accepting it could appear to deny Trump a victory, because his repeated insistence that Iran’s nuclear program should be dismantled.