Athens: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said Iran had “lost complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, claiming oil shipments through the key waterway had nearly returned to pre-conflict levels.
“The Straits of Hormuz are open. There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Athens.
Rubio said the development showed that Tehran no longer had control over the strategically vital waterway, through which a significant share of global oil supplies traditionally passes.
His remarks came as he described Iran’s economy as being in “total and complete freefall,” attributing the deterioration to what he called “crippling” US sanctions.
Rubio also accused Iran’s leadership of directing its financial resources toward supporting militant groups in the region.
“Every dollar” received by Iran’s “radical Shia clerics,” he said, is ultimately spent on groups including Hezbollah and Hamas.
Rubio Rules Out Iranian Nuclear Weapon
The US secretary of state reiterated Washington’s opposition to Iran possessing a nuclear weapon, saying any agreement with Tehran would have to provide firm guarantees that it could never develop one.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story,” Rubio said.
He added that any agreement considered acceptable to the United States would have to ensure that Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Rubio also alleged that Iran had been working to build up its conventional military capabilities to a level that would make it difficult for other countries to challenge or deter Tehran.
“What they were trying to do was build up a conventional capability so massive that they would become untouchable,” he said.
The comments underscore Washington’s continued focus on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, military capabilities and regional alliances as key issues in its broader policy toward Tehran.
