The United States is still open to a diplomatic solution with Iran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Sunday night.
“It has to be real,” he explained. “It has to be a deal that they’re willing to live by.
“Look, Iran, a week ago, was supposed to put out a statement saying that the Straits of Hormuz would be open, that they would no longer attack shipping. And instead of doing that, they attacked three ships. I think that was last Friday or Saturday. So, I mean, their behavior has to change in order for ours to change.”
Rubio also stated that there was a “growing split” in Iran between the more militant extremists who continue to attack the US and other countries and those who are concerned with Iran’s economy.
“If the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system or take control of the negotiations, that’ll be a very positive development,” he said.
One of the reasons Iran’s economy was struggling was because it had funneled so much of its funds to proxy terror organizations, Rubio stated.
“Every penny that this regime there gets, be it through sanctions relief or through the oil they’re able to get out, they invested in Hezbollah. They invested in Hamas. They spent billions of dollars supporting militias in Iraq, Hezbollah, and Hamas. They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran. They should be spending billions of dollars building their country.”
According to Rubio, while the conflict with Iran was ongoing and they continued blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would take on ” the burden of protecting global shipping.”
“So we are basically providing the service of protecting these ships on behalf of the world,” he said. “We’re the only ones doing anything about it.”
As such, Rubio explained, US President Donald Trump wanted other countries to “step forward and provide at least financial assistance for the cost of providing this very valuable service.”
“The world has to decide whether or not it’s going to allow an international waterway to be under the control of a country like this,” he said, referring to Iran, “which is completely illegal, unlawful, and unacceptable.”
Source:
www.jpost.com
