US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no nation has the right to charge for the use of international shipping lanes, dismissing Iran's attempts to label transit fees through the Strait of Hormuz as a 'semantic game.' Rubio said President Trump has made 'unequivocally clear' that this will never be acceptable in any agreement.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday sharply rejected Iran's attempts to reframe toll collection in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the payment a 'semantic game' and reiterating that no country has the right to charge for international shipping lanes.
'You can call it a fee, you can call it a commission—call it whatever you want. It's just a semantic game. The reality is that no country in the world has the right to charge for the use of international shipping lanes,' Rubio said. 'This will never be an acceptable condition in any agreement. The President has made that unequivocally clear.'
The remarks come amid an ongoing standoff: as The Zioneer reported Wednesday, President Trump said it was 'unacceptable' for any final deal with Iran to include tolls, after the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tehran would continue collecting fees. Iran's negotiating team had warned that payment 'will be exacted' in Hormuz, and Iranian officials insisted the strait is under Iranian and Omani sovereignty, not international waters.
Rubio's statement appears to close the door on any Iranian creative accounting. His wording closely mirrors the administration's core demand—no payment regime, under any name, in the strategic waterway through which roughly 20 percent of global oil passes.
4 developments
- StrongIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman: toll collection in Strait of Hormuz continues, contradicting Trump
- StrongTrump reiterates: No final Iran deal may include tolls in Strait of Hormuz
- DevelopingOman's foreign minister affirms commitment to free passage in Strait of Hormuz
- StrongSecretary of State Rubio discusses Iran deal and Strait of Hormuz with UAE leadership
Source and signal
- Internal intake