Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports and the war ends, while setting aside negotiations on its nuclear ambitions for a later date, Axios and The Associated Press reported Monday.
It is unclear if President Donald Trump, who has vowed not to lift the blockade until a deal with Iran is “100% complete,” will entertain the reported offer to end the 2-month-old war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Fox News interview later Monday morning appeared to pour cold water on any Iranian proposal to clear the strategically vital strait.
“What they mean by opening the straits is, ‘Yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, or we’ll blow you up and you pay us,’” Rubio said, when asked about Trump’s claim Saturday that Iran had sent a “much better” offer.
“That’s not opening the straits. Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it,” Rubio said.
