US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Monday night (25) that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be open, “one way or another”, referring to the American attacks against Iran earlier in the evening.
“The straits need to be open, they’re going to be open one way or another, so they need to be open,” Rubio told reporters on his plane in Jaipur, India.
He added that defining the negotiation terms of the Iran deal could “take a few days.”
Earlier, the United States in the Strait of Hormuz, in what Centcom (US Central Command) classified as “self-defense”.
“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Centcom spokesman Timothy Hawkins said in a statement to CNN, when asked about explosions reported in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Targets included missile launch facilities and Iranian vessels attempting to lay mines. U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces, acting with restraint during the current ceasefire,” he added.
American President Donald Trump had already authorized American forces to respond to Iranian provocations in this important waterway.
Possible agreement
Iran and the United States have signaled that they are close to an agreement to transform the existing ceasefire, which ended weeks of conflict, into a more lasting solution.
Both sides speak of a “memorandum of understanding” that will establish a roadmap for resolving all outstanding issues, although the agreement is still “under development”, according to US Secretary of State Macron Rubio.
“Either we will have a good agreement or we will have to deal with this differently,” Rubio said during a visit to India this Monday (25).
But the content of the document remains unclear.
The central premise of this approach is that the memorandum, once signed, would halt the fighting, which would be welcome news for both sides as US President Donald Trump faces midterm elections later this year amid rising gasoline prices and Iran’s economic crisis.
The agreement called for the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and would begin a 60-day process to address other issues, mainly Iran’s nuclear program.
Rubio said there was “something pretty solid on the table” in terms of opening the strait and Iran entering “a meaningful, time-bound negotiation on nuclear issues.”
A senior government official told CNN on Sunday (25) that the framework agreement gives the parties “60 days to reach a final agreement”.
According to the official, the possible deal would guarantee that Iran could never possess a nuclear weapon and would commit it to giving up highly enriched uranium, which the president often calls “nuclear dust.”
How the stock will be disposed of would be part of the next phase of negotiations.
“The important point of the framework is that if Iran does not comply with the deal, it will get nothing. No dust? No money. As the Strait opens, the blockade is loosened proportionately,” the official said.
“This is ‘trust but verify’ in the extreme,” he added.
However, Iranian officials and state media have offered different interpretations.
“We have reached an understanding on most of the issues under discussion. But to say that this means that an agreement is about to be signed — no one can say that,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday.
And, after saying that the deal was “largely negotiated,” Trump said on Sunday that the US would not rush into a deal.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one Obama made,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, asserting that that deal gave Iran “a clear and open path to a nuclear weapon.”
(With information from Zachary Cohen of CNN and Reuters)
