Rubio warns of dangerous precedent in Iranian Strait of Hormuz demands

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the Iranian military’s control over the Strait of Hormuz sets a “dangerous precedent” for the rest of the world.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” Rubio said during the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila, Philippines.

The U.S. and Iran resumed tit-for-tat strikes roughly two weeks ago, laying waste to the short-lived memorandum of understanding the two sides signed in mid-June — which called for the Islamic Republic to lift its restrictions on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.

Tehran’s effective halt on vessels passing through the waterway in the early months of the war rocked the global energy industry, as nearly 34 percent of the world’s crude oil went through the strait last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Since July 6, Iranian forces have attacked at least a dozen ships in the strait, according to the International Maritime Organization. The Iranian government also created the Persian Gulf Strait Authority to oversee shipping in the strait, while forcing ships to travel along designated routes in the waterway.

But Rubio said Wednesday Iran lacks the right “under any existing legal mechanism” to control transit in the waterway, reiterating a point he has made for months. He also said the issue at hand is not just about the Strait of Hormuz, but the “very fundamental principle about freedom of navigation” around the world.

“If that is threatened, then I think the global economy is threatened and the rules which have underpinned 150 years of international trade and commerce are also threatened,” the secretary added. “And that cannot be allowed to happen.”

While President Trump has renewed his maximalist rhetoric towards Tehran in the wake of two Iranian attacks killing four U.S. service members in the last week, Rubio said the administration is “open-minded and always willing to engage” in diplomacy.

“If they’re serious, we’re serious,” Rubio said, referring to Iranian officials. “If they’re not, then we will do what is necessary to protect that, our interests, and also the interests of our allies.” 

Those remarks came after U.S. Central Command (Centcom) finished an 11th straight night of strikes against Iranian military assets on Tuesday.

Centcom said it targeted military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities and military logistics infrastructure “to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

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