Doha [Qatar], March 31: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Al Jazeera that the Strait of Hormuz will "reopen one way or another" in the wake of the eventual end of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The exclusive interview with Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra on Monday came as speculation has grown over a possible US troop deployment in Iran and as the effective closure of the strait continues to roil global oil markets.
US boots on the ground would represent a new phase in the grinding conflict, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes, even as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the US is pursuing diplomacy with Iran.
Rubio again maintained there were "messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries, but there's been some conversation". Rubio added that Trump "always prefers diplomacy, always prefers an outcome . and we could have done this before".
The Trump administration had previously pursued indirect talks with Iran to curtail its nuclear programme. One round of talks was derailed in June of last year with Israel's 12-day war against Iran, which ended with US strikes on Iran's nuclear facility.
A second round of diplomacy was underway when the US and Israel began the latest war.
Rubio again indicated the US administration's preference for regime change in Iran, which the US and Israel have so far been unable to achieve despite several high-profile assassinations, including the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rubio further called on Iran to end its nuclear programme and to curtail its drone and missile programme.
He accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons to "threaten and blackmail the world", a claim Tehran has for years denied, maintaining its nuclear programme was only for civilian purposes.
Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed to open traffic, Rubio rejected Iran's demand that it must maintain "sovereignty" over the arterial waterway as part of any agreement to end the war.
"The Strait of Hormuz will be open when this operation is over . one way or another," Rubio said. "It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block the commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it's open."
Source: Qatar Tribune