US attacks Iranian missile sites as deal to end war may take days
"The straits have to be open, they're going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open," Mr Rubio told reporters during his visit to India.
Any hopes of a swift breakthrough with Iran dimmed on Tuesday after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a deal could still “take a few days,” a day after US forces launched what Washington described as defensive strikes in southern Iran.
Rubio, outlining the operation against targets that included boats allegedly trying to lay mines and missile launch sites, made clear the US position on the vital shipping lane. The Strait of Hormuz, he said, must remain open “one way or the other”.
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“The straits have to be open, they’re going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open,” Mr Rubio told reporters during his visit to India.
Although a ceasefire has been in place since early April, US Central Command said in a statement yesterday that it had carried out new strikes intended “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”.
Watch: Rubio says Strait of Hormuz has to be open ‘one way or the other’
The latest US action unfolded as Iran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a possible agreement with Washington to bring the three-month-old war to a close, according to an official briefed on the visit.
Earlier in New Delhi, Mr Rubio said the US was prepared to give diplomacy every opportunity to work before deciding whether it would have to handle Iran in “another way”.
He said there was a “pretty solid thing on the table,” pointing to discussions about reopening the strait and a “very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter”.
President Donald Trump, writing at length on Truth Social, said talks with Iran were progressing “nicely” while also warning that more attacks could follow if diplomacy collapsed. It “will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all,” he wrote.
Adding to the sense of strain across the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would step up strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israel’s military soon after said it was hitting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and other areas.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, but Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes that it says are acts of self-defence against Hezbollah, which was not party to the truce.
The official briefed on the Iranians’ Doha visit said the talks centred on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Iran’s central bank chief was also present to discuss the possible release of frozen Iranian funds as part of any final deal.
Donald Trump had warned of fresh attacks on Iran if talks failed
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that nuclear issues would be negotiated only after the framework accord had been agreed.
Mr Trump has said his overriding objective in the war is to stop Iran from turning its highly enriched uranium into a nuclear weapon. Tehran has repeatedly denied that it intends to do so.
Mr Baghaei said the proposed Iran deal included no specific details on how the Strait of Hormuz would be managed, even though roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally moves through the waterway.
Iran would not impose tolls on ships passing through, he said, but there would be charges for services such as navigation and environmental protection measures under a protocol to be agreed with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the strait.
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Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, citing a Middle East diplomatic source, reported that the US and Iran were discussing a plan to reopen the strait around 30 days after reaching a deal to end hostilities.
Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on 28 February, only a few dozen vessels have been moving through the Strait of Hormuz, far below the previous daily flow of 125 to 140.
The prolonged stand-off has sent oil prices higher and pushed up the cost of fuel, fertiliser and food.
In early Asian trade, US West Texas Intermediate crude edged up from yesterday’s last traded price, though it remained 5.5% below Friday’s close.
