Rubio says US will pursue alternative if Iran talks fail

The United States will secure either a satisfactory agreement with Iran or confront Tehran “another way,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, as Washington sought to temper expectations of any immediate breakthrough in the three-month-old war.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Mr Rubio said the US would allow diplomacy every opportunity to work before turning to what he called “alternatives,” after President Donald Trump said yesterday that he had instructed his team not to hurry into an agreement with Iran.

Rubio said there was a “pretty solid thing on the table” involving Iran’s ability to reopen the strait, keep it open, and move into a serious, meaningful and time-limited negotiation over its nuclear programme. “Hopefully we can pull it off,” he said.

A day earlier, MR Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to journalists before boarding his plane at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi

Iranian officials did not immediately respond. But Tasnim, the news agency linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported that Washington was still standing in the way of parts of a possible deal, including Tehran’s demand that frozen funds be released.

Oil prices dropped 6% to their lowest level in two weeks this morning, as hopes grew that the United States and Iran were edging nearer to a peace deal.

Mr Trump fuelled expectations of a near-term agreement on Saturday, saying Washington and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the conflict, that crucial shipping lane carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

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Even so, major sticking points remain, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israel’s war in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, and Tehran’s demands for sanctions relief and the release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.

A senior Trump administration official described what he said were the latest outlines of the issues under negotiation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Iran had agreed “in principle” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in return for the United States lifting its naval blockade, and to dispose of Tehran’s highly enriched uranium.

The official added that the US believed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the broad framework of the deal.

There was no immediate confirmation from Iran, nor any explanation of what an “in principle” agreement would mean in practice.

The US official said Washington’s plan was to first reopen the strait and lift the naval blockade, while the finer points of the nuclear steps would require more time to negotiate.

The official also rejected suggestions that Iran had not accepted the disposal of its stockpiled enriched uranium. “It’s a question about how,” the official said.

A second senior administration official said yesterday that the proposed framework would give negotiators 60 days to finalise a deal.

Iranian sources had told Reuters that in later phases, “feasible formulas” could be used to settle the dispute over its highly enriched uranium stockpile, including diluting the material under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iran has consistently denied US and Israeli accusations that it is seeking nuclear weapons, saying it is entitled to enrich uranium for civilian use, even though the level of purity it has reached goes far beyond what is required for power generation.

Mr Trump, whose approval rating have been hit by the war’s effect on US energy prices and who has faced congressional efforts to limit his war powers, has repeatedly highlighted the possibility of an agreement to end the conflict launched by the US and Israel on 28 February.

A fragile ceasefire has remained in place since early April.

The president also pushed back against critics of his handling of the negotiations and his readiness to compromise with Iran.

“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one … So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about,” Mr Trump posted yesterday.

Any agreement that strengthens the current shaky ceasefire would offer markets some relief, but it would not immediately ease a global energy crisis that has raised the cost of fuel, fertiliser and food.

The US-Israeli bombing of Iran killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in early April.

Israel has also killed thousands more and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the militant group Hezbollah. Iranian strikes on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states have killed dozens.