Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed aghast that Iran would shut down the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. started a war with the country.
Speaking to reporters at a White House press briefing Tuesday, Rubio bragged about the destruction of Iran’s military while acknowledging the country still has complete control over the Strait of Hormuz, a major international shipping lane that has affected the global economy with its closure.
“If we live in a world where this rogue state like this Iranian regime is allowed to claim as a new normal ― control of an international shipping lane ― it will not be long before you see that happen in multiple shipping lanes around the world,” Rubio warned. “I can identify for you six or seven vital shipping lanes around the world that some countries can decide, ‘Guess what? if Iran was able to do it, we’re going to do it too. We’re now going to start charging tolls.’ And it’ll get closer and closer to us, and that’s unacceptable.”
Rubio left out that this problem would not exist had President Donald Trump not decided to go to war with Iran in February. Prior to the bombings, the strait ― a major artery for the world’s oil supply ― was open. Now, Iran has blocked the strait and is charging massive tolls for ships to get through.
Rubio acknowledged that it’s had a negative impact on the U.S. economy.
“The stuff we make in this country and export has to go through international shipping lanes,” Rubio said. “And for us to live in a world where a country can decide, ‘Now we own the international shipping lane and you have to pay us to use it,’ and that is a normal we will never be able to accept.”
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His comments also seem to go against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who insisted Tuesday that Iran is not in control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Two U.S. commercial ships, along with American destroyers, have already safely transited the strait, showing the lane is clear,” Hegseth said. “We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this fact. They said they control the strait. They do not.”
As of Tuesday, traffic in the strait is still just a tiny fraction of what it was before the war began.
Despite Iran being in control of the strait, Rubio said it would be much worse if Iran had a nuclear weapon.
“If Iran had a nuclear weapon, and they decided to close the Straits and make our gas prices like $9 a gallon or $8 a gallon, we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because they have a nuclear weapon. A nuclear armed Iran could do whatever the hell they want with the Straits, and there’s nothing anyone would be able to do about it.”
Even without a nuclear weapon, Iran seems to be doing “whatever the hell they want” with the strait. Asked about rising gas prices in the U.S., Rubio assured the American people not to worry ― gas prices are worse in other countries.
“If you look, it’s obviously being driven by global events,” Rubio said of the global events driven by the U.S. “Look, we don’t benefit from the Straits as much as other countries. I don’t know if you’ve seen what the gas prices are like in other parts of the world that are really suffering ― big time.”