Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose profile has been lower than usual throughout the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) drama between the United States and Iran, met with Persian Gulf leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday to answer their questions about the peace deal.
“We want to hear from our partners. We want to make sure that their views are taken into account, and we understand their security concerns, their regional economic concerns as well,” Rubio said from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” Rubio told reporters upon arriving in Kuwait on Wednesday. His previous stop was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his next is Bahrain.
Rubio said from Kuwait that the Trump administration would remain “completely aligned” with partner Gulf states as negotiations with Iran continue.
“That’s why we’re meeting with all of them tomorrow, that’s why I’m taking these trips now. And it’s the reason why I’m here, apart from thanking them for the incredible support they gave us throughout this process,” he said.
The UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain all host U.S. military bases, which the belligerent Iranians have demanded they eliminate after repeatedly attacking its Gulf neighbors. Rubio’s visit seemed intended to reassure the Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain that the United States would protect its allies and prevent Iran from dominating the region.
“The American flag: a symbol of liberty, unity, and freedom now flies proudly once again over Kuwait City. Kuwait is an indispensable partner for regional security and stability,” Rubio remarked at a flag-raising ceremony for the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. The flag had to come down because Iran began attacking Kuwait with drones and ballistic missiles in March.
Rubio addressed another Persian Gulf anxiety on Tuesday when he promised that Iran would not be allowed to extort “tolls” or “fees” from shipping in the Persian Gulf. Iran has been strongly signaling that it intends to do so once the 60-day “toll-free” promise in the MOU expires.
“It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” Rubio said, insisting that “all countries in this region would agree.”
Iran seemingly does not agree, and it appears to have made progress on winning the nation on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, Oman, over to its point of view.
On the same day Rubio visited Abu Dhabi, Iran and Oman held talks about the future of the Strait of Hormuz, issued a joint statement declaring their “sovereign rights over their territorial waters” in the strait, and established a “working group” to “reach agreement on the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The joint statement from Iran and Oman ominously hinted at providing “services” for ships passing through the strait, mentioning “the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards.” The Iranians have been laying the groundwork to justify piracy in the strait as “fees” that will be charged for transit “services” which Tehran has been providing for “free” until now.
Iran did not directly respond to Rubio’s comments about the Strait of Hormuz, nor did it respond to President Donald Trump’s claim on Wednesday that Iran has promised there will be “no tolls, no insurance costs, and no other charges of any kind being sought or received by Iran on ships traveling the Strait of Hormuz.”
“If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!” Trump threatened on Truth Social.
Speaking from Kuwait, Rubio repeated President Trump’s threat to renew action against Iran if it violates the MOU, and said the Gulf states have no reason to fear the loss of American protection and support as a result of the deal.
“We have existing relationships with these countries that go back many, many decades,” he said. “We have troop presences in these countries. We have assets in these countries. The security assurances lie in the fact that — we don’t even have to talk about that, because they know it’s true. They know we’ve been there with them, and they’ve been there with us.”
“We have people there. We have people on the ground, constantly, working with them. We have air defenses embedded with them. We have aircraft in these countries,” he noted.
“I didn’t sense any doubts about our security assurances, because they’re real. They’re not promises. They’re actual. They exist,” he said.
Rubio reiterated his point about the firmness of America’s security commitment to the Gulf states when asked about Iran moving to reconstitute its damaged missile program, or fund terrorist proxies in other countries, using the huge amount of money that will flow to Tehran as a result of the MOU.
This has reportedly been a top concern of governments like the UAE and Kuwait after weathering repeated attacks from Iran. Rubio did not directly address concerns that the MOU does not explicitly prevent Iran from rebuilding, and improving, its arsenal of missiles and drones.
Iranian officials have given no sign that they interpret the MOU as limiting their military ambitions or restraining their urge to dominate the Middle East.
Iranian parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was visiting Azerbaijan on Wednesday, once again referred to the MOU as a U.S. surrender document — “America’s declaration of defeat” — which was achieved by the “resistance and authority of the brave Iranian nation.”
On the same day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said from Pakistan that Iran would never accept any limitations on its missile program.
“If we did not have our missiles, which are for our self-defense, Israel and America would have plowed through Iran the way they did Gaza,” he said.
“Iran would never negotiate with anyone, under any circumstances, ever, about our defensive capabilities,” he said.
Pezeshkian’s host, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, agreed that the preliminary U.S.-Iran peace deal does not place any limits on Iran’s missiles. The Iranians have also denied Trump’s assertions that they agreed to more stringent inspections of their nuclear weapons program.