On Friday, after attending the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that if Iran refuses to open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and its allies need to be prepared with a “Plan B.”
“I can tell you, and I hope – as I’ve always emphasized – we all hope to see an agreement reached with Iran, to open the strait, for them to abandon their nuclear ambitions, to abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions,” Rubio told the media in Helsingborg, Sweden.
“This is what all of us hope for. This is the direction we will continue to pursue. Even as I speak to you now, relevant work is ongoing. However, we must also have a Plan B: What if Iran refuses to open the strait? If Iran decides, ‘We refuse to open the strait, we want to control it, we want to impose tolls,’ then we must take some measures at that point,” he said.
Rubio added that at the NATO foreign ministers meeting on Friday, he raised this issue with allies and received widespread agreement. The top U.S. diplomat also mentioned that he was aware of a plan led by the UK and France to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but that plan would only be executed under certain conditions, namely when there is no active conflict.
“But if there is still firing going on, we need to have a Plan B, in that situation, how do you reopen the strait? So I made that point clear today. I don’t know if this is necessarily a NATO mission, but NATO countries can certainly contribute to it,” he said.
He pointed out that, although the “Plan B” does not require the entire NATO to participate, it may involve some allies who have interests in the Strait of Hormuz. He said these countries “must start thinking” about what to do if Iran refuses to cooperate.
At the same time, Rubio warned that “Iran is trying to establish a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz,” and no country should accept it.
“They are trying to persuade Oman to join their toll system established on international waterways. No country in the world should accept this. Apart from Iran, I don’t know which country in the world would support such an action, but no country in the world should accept it,” Rubio said.
“I don’t know who in the world would support implementing a toll system on international waterways, this is completely unacceptable. This must not happen at all.”
“If such a situation occurs in the Strait of Hormuz, the same will happen in five other places in the world,” he said.
Regarding the ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations, Rubio said, “We’re still waiting for news on the ongoing talks. There has been some progress in the negotiations, I don’t want to overstate it, but there has indeed been some progress, which is a good thing,” Rubio said.