US Secretary of State Rubio expressed confidence in the ongoing negotiations with Iran to end the West Asia conflict despite the US strike on boats near the port of Bandar Abbas, but cautioned that negotiating language of the deal with Tehran could “take a few days”.
Rubio said that the Strait of Hormuz has to be open, “one way or the other”, when referring to US strikes on Iran on Monday.
“The straits have to be open. They’re going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open. What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable,” Rubio told reporters on his plane in India’s Jaipur.
Rubio said that a deal with Iran was still possible despite new American strikes that cast doubt on their fragile ceasefire.
“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio said.
The strikes came as top Iranian negotiators arrived in the Qatari capital of Doha for the latest round of talks to end the months-long conflict, which had prompted Iran to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy exports, sending prices soaring and the global economy into a tailspin.
Fresh US strikes on Iran
US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats “trying to lay mines” on Monday, US Central Command said, imperilling a fragile ceasefire that has kept the region largely peaceful since April 8.
“US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Tim Hawkins, a US Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement.
The statement gave no details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”
Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB reported several loud explosions were heard in the vicinity of Bandar Abbas at around midnight local time (2030 GMT Monday).
It added that the situation in the southern port city was normal and local authorities were investigating the cause of the blasts.
