Rubio tells Gulf allies that Iran deal will ensure their security

Rubio’s Gulf tour is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US-Iran framework agreement last week.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that any Iranian tolls on ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways “like a contagion”, as he wrapped up a trip to the Gulf aimed at winning support from regional allies for the US-Iran interim deal aimed at ending their war.

“International waterways do not belong to any nation state,” Rubio said on Thursday after joining a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.

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“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion,” he added.

He said that there was zero support among Gulf countries for any Iranian toll on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio earlier told partners in the Gulf that any deal to end the US-Iran war would account for their security interests.

Rubio’s three-day tour of the Gulf is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US and Iran agreed a Memorandum of Understanding to extend their ceasefire and to hold talks on a permanent end to the more than 100-day war, which started on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

He acknowledged the delicacy of his mission as he seeks to win over Gulf Arab leaders wary that excessive concessions could strengthen Tehran and reshape the region’s security balance and oil flows.

In Manama, he told leaders from Bahrain that the US wants to ensure any agreement with Iran takes into account the “interest of allies”.

He added: “We are open for peace that is enduring and real and doesn’t undermine security and prosperity for the US or its allies”.

Rubio said during a news conference in Manama that a reconstruction fund for Iran was not discussed with Gulf countries.

He said he would not be asking regional allies to contribute to any reconstruction fund during the trip, even as the MoU with Iran suggests that countries in the region would at least be partially responsible for footing the bill.

At his previous stops in the United Arab Emirates ‌and Kuwait, Rubio sought to assure officials that the proposed deal ‌was not overly favourable to Iran, which attacked several Gulf states during the war.

“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” he told reporters in Kuwait.