US Will Not Sacrifice Everything for a Deal with Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stressed that the United States wants to reach an agreement with Iran, but not by sacrificing everything. Rubio assured Gulf nations that the interests of US allies and partners in the region will be taken into account.

Rubio, who is visiting the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, made the remarks during a joint ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the US held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on Thursday (25/6), as reported by Al Arabiya on Friday (26/6).

Rubio’s visit follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran aimed at ending the war in the Middle East.

‘While we want a deal, we do not want a deal at any price,’ Rubio told the meeting of Gulf foreign ministers. ‘We want a good deal, a real deal, a deal that can be verified, and a deal that is complied with.’

Rubio said the US expects further negotiations with Iran to yield positive results. However, he warned that if Tehran chooses a different path, it will not lead to the outcome Washington hopes for.

‘We want to ensure… that no part of the deal, in any way, can undermine the security, stability, or prosperity of our partners in the Gulf region,’ he stressed.

Rubio further emphasised that certain things are unacceptable to the US, including Iran’s nuclear weapons and Tehran’s actions in charging fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

‘International shipping lanes do not belong to any one country. This is a fundamental principle of the modern world; without it, the world would be in total chaos,’ he said.

‘If we were to truly accept the notion that you can charge a fee for the use of international shipping lanes simply because they happen to be located near your sovereign territory, this would spread across the globe like a plague,’ Rubio stated, without directly naming Iran.

Speaking to reporters, Rubio revealed that US allies in the Gulf region have expressed very serious concerns and want to be kept informed at every stage of the US-Iran peace deal, including provisions concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio warned that if Iran threatens or obstructs ships in the Strait of Hormuz, ‘then we have a problem’. He added that there is absolutely no support from the Gulf states for the proposal to impose fees in the Strait of Hormuz.