Rubio says Iran ‘serious’ about a deal but nuclear red lines remain

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Iran is “serious” about reaching a deal with Washington, driven largely by its deteriorating economic conditions. “I think they’re serious about getting themselves out of the mess that they’re in,” Rubio told Fox News. He pointed to Iran’s worsening inflation, difficulties paying wages, and ongoing sanctions, noting that “all the problems that Iran had before the start of this conflict are still in place, and most of them are worse.” However, Rubio stressed that any agreement must “definitively prevent them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

Strait of Hormuz dispute

Rubio’s remarks came amid media reports that Iran has floated a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its blockade and ending the war, while deferring nuclear negotiations to a later stage. Responding to Iran’s claim that the strait is open, Rubio said: “The straits are opened, 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 added: “Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway, and how much you have to pay them to use it.”

Stalled talks

Iran and the US held talks in Islamabad on April 11 but failed to reach an agreement to end the war that began on Feb. 28. Those negotiations followed a two-week Pakistan-brokered ceasefire on April 8, later extended by President Trump. Trump cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan by special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Efforts continue to organize another round of talks, but key sticking points remain: the status of the strait, the US blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran’s nuclear program. About 20% of global oil supply passes through the strait daily, and its disruption has driven up energy prices.