Rubio’s caution masks a grim calculation: if Iran turns the Strait of Hormuz into a pay-to-pass chokepoint, the confrontation will not stay on paper. Nearly a fifth of the world’s oil moves through that narrow waterway. Any effort to “tax” it, he warns, is not just provocative but “completely illegal” and a “threat to the world.” Behind the careful phrasing lies a bipartisan understanding in Washington and European capitals that this is a red line, not a debating point.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that back-channel discussions to halt the U.S.-Israel war with Iran is “a little bit of movement.”
