WASHINGTON, United States (US): US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said on Thursday that a “growing amount of energy” is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz as indirect contacts between the US and Iran show progress, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
There are intermediary countries that are “passing messages, and progress has been made”, Rubio told reporters before he departed for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in France.
“There’s a growing amount of energy that’s been flowing through the straits, not as much as should be flowing, but some of it has picked up. There’s been some progress in regards to the exchange of messages, but that’s an ongoing and fluid process, and not one we’re going to negotiate or talk about in the media,” he added.
Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz “can be open tomorrow if Iran stops threatening global shipping”.
“For all these countries that care about international law, they should be doing something about it,” he said, adding that “very little” of the US’ energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s the world that has a great interest in that, and so they should step up and deal with it,” he added.
Asked about Russia’s reported support for Iran, Rubio said Moscow is “primarily concentrating” on the war in Ukraine.
Rubio will meet G7 foreign ministers on Friday in France for talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the West Asia situation stemming from the US-Israel war on Iran, the State Department said.
In recent days, Donald Trump has urged allies and rivals, including China, to help secure the strait, a vital waterway, as disruptions there have driven up global oil prices.
Several European countries declined, saying the Iran conflict was a war started by Trump without consulting US allies.
The US has reportedly sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war and outlined steps on Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, as well as maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran rejected the proposal and outlined five conditions for ending the war, including a halt to attacks, guarantees against renewed conflict, recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and reparations for war damages. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU
