Rubio: Iran 'completely lost' control of Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio stated on the 7th that Iran has "completely lost" control of the Strait of Hormuz and that Tehran's economy is "completely and completely in free fall." He also reiterated that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance also proposed that Iran must substantially reduce its uranium enrichment capabilities in order to meet U.S. requirements and end the war.

The amount of oil exported is close to that before the war

Agence France-Presse reported on the 7th that Rubio told reporters during his visit to Athens, Greece on the 7th, "The Strait of Hormuz is open, and the amount of oil exported through it now is almost the same as before this conflict started. Therefore, they (Iran) have completely lost control of the strait."

He pointed out that "tough" sanctions have caused Iran's economy to "almost fall into a situation that few countries in the world have experienced." Every penny the Iranian regime obtains is spent on the Lebanese pro-Iran group "Hezbollah" and the Palestinian militant organization "Hamas".

Rubio reiterated that "Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons, that's it, there is no room for discussion." Any plan that Iran agrees to and that the United States can accept "must ensure that Iran will never possess nuclear weapons."

U.S. Vice President Vance gave an exclusive interview to Reuters on the 5th during a campaign trip to Alaska, saying that Iran must "meaningfully" reduce its uranium enrichment capabilities to comply with U.S. requirements and end the seven-month-old war. He said that any agreement must require Iran to actually reduce its enrichment capacity, not just a verbal commitment. "If you don't want nuclear weapons, why do you need 60% enriched fuel? If you want to show your determination not to build nuclear weapons, don't produce highly enriched fuel. This is a very basic threshold issue."

The United States and Iran have exchanged proposals in recent weeks aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected Tehran's latest overtures and warned of an escalation of military action after the midterm elections.

Vance said that the United States is still open to reaching an agreement, but it needs specific concessions from Iran on the nuclear weapons issue. "If they want to show their commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, they should take practical actions on enrichment capacity." "We will not exchange words for concrete actions."