U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Bahrain that there is 'zero support' among Gulf states for Iran charging fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio stressed that such a practice would threaten the status of international waterways, saying, 'International waterways do not belong to any nation state. If we agree to charge for an international waterway just because it is close to your territorial waters, that will spread to the world like a contagious disease.'
Rubio's Gulf tour was the first high-level diplomatic mission since the ceasefire agreement reached after the war between the US and Iran that began on February 28 and lasted more than 100 days.
During his three-day visit covering Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, Rubio assured allies that any final agreement with Iran would safeguard their security interests. 'We will not do anything that weakens the security of our allies,' Rubio said, seeking to allay fears that excessive concessions would be made to Iran, which attacked all GCC countries during the war.
Rubio also stated that the establishment of a restructuring fund for Iran was not discussed with Gulf countries and that he would not request contributions from regional allies to such a fund during this tour. Although the agreement text included language indicating that regional countries could be partially responsible for the bill, Rubio did not bring up the issue.