Name: Rubio says US prefers diplomacy with Iran as analysts examine consequences of Hormuz closure
Uploaded: 2026-03-30T23:02:13.000Z
Duration: 11 min 26 s
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In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump prefers diplomacy over military escalation with Iran.

Basic passive voice

Rubio also stressed that Tehran will face severe consequences if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.

There's, uh, messages and, and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries, but there's been some conversation.

And I think the president always prefers diplomacy, always prefers an outcome.

I mean, imagine an Iranian regime who, instead of spending billions of dollars supporting terrorist groups and building up all these weapons, had invested that money into Iran, for the people of Iran, so they wouldn't have water shortages, so their economies would provide opportunities for an incredible people.

The people of Iran are incredible people, very resourceful, uh, very entrepreneurial.

But it's their regime that's been a problem.

And instead, they've chosen to spend the wealth of their country to support Hezbollah and Hamas and, uh, Shia militias inside of Iraq and to try to destabilize Syria when, when Assad was there, and, um, and, and all over the world to sponsor terrorist plots and build these drones and build these weapons to threaten their neighbors unnecessarily.

So we would always welcome a scenario in which Iran was led by people that had a different view of the future and had a different view, and if that opportunity presents itself, we're going to take it.

Not only is the sovereignty over the Straits of Hormuz not acceptable to us, it won't be acceptable to the world.

Number one, it sets a, an incredible precedent.

So this means that nations can now take over wa international waterways and claim them as their own.

Other the Chinese could do it in the South China Sea.

No one in the world is going to accept that or should accept that.

Now, let me be frank, very f little of American energy comes through the Straits of Hormuz in terms of the energy we rely on, but we recognize the impact that it has on global markets and on our neighbors, especially our allies in the region, who produce energy and have to get it out to market.

So no country in the world should accept it.

The regional countries in the world should accept it.

The United States will not accept that condition.

It's an illegal condition that they're demanding.

When, when this operation is over, it will be open, and it'll be open one way or another.

It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block a commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it's open.

One way or the other, it's going to be open.

But we have very clear objectives that we're trying to achieve here.

Those objectives are the destruction of their air force, which has been achieved, the destruction of their navy, which has largely been achieved, uh, a significant reduction in the number of missile launchers that they have, which we're well on our way to achieving, and we are going to destroy the factories that make those missiles and those drones that they are using to attack their neighbors and the United States and our presence in the region.

We are well on our way or ahead of schedule.

We will achieve them in weeks, not months.

And, uh, and then we'll be confronted with this issue of the Straits of Hormuz, and it'll be up to Iran to decide.

And if they choose to try to block the straits, then they will have to face real consequences, not just from the United States, but from regional countries and from the world.

Diving into all of this a little further with our guests in the studio.

Paul Musgrave, associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, a U.S.

foreign policy analyst, and Hassan Ahmadian is an associate professor at the University of Tehran.

Uh, gentlemen, great to have you both in the studio for this.

So this is an interview that, uh, Marco Rubio gave to Al Jazeera, our, uh, Hashem Mahel Barra, who's in Washington, DC, just a short while ago, and there is more of that to come, but there's already a lot in there.

Perhaps we start with the Strait of Hormuz.

What Marco Rubio is saying is that when this war ends, Iran will have a decision to make, okay?

Either they agree to reopen the strait, or an international coalition will force the strait open.

It's changed a lot, Paul, but that is where we are, open by force or through a deal.

I mean, one big thing here is that Pre uh, Secretary of State Rubio is assuming that the war will end, and he's saying that it's going to be weeks, not months.

Um, but there's a lot between where we are now and what a closure to this phase of the conflict, this war, would look like.

Does it involve the seizure of, you know, Iran's oil facilities?

Does it involve boots on the grounds in someplace like Bandar Abbas or elsewhere in the region?

But then the question about what the post-war settlement looks like, you know, I note that Secretary Rubio is not being specific here about who that coalition will be.

We all know that America's traditional allies in Europe and Asia have demurred calls to participate in any such coalition.

I do think, however, that he is right that there's a global interest.

Right, but there was some uh, c two days ago, G7 countries got together, Rubio was there, and there was some interest shown by some countries.

There's some interest, but this is something that I think that time will tell as the price of oil escalates, as global energy shortages, global fertilizer, global food shortages escalates.

But this is all to say that we're in a position now where the United States is trying to win through force or through negotiation something that wasn't in doubt a month ago, and that, I think, is really I mean, a problem that didn't exist.

That's an interesting thing that did not exist.

And this is a scenario that the United States has tried to resist for 50 years, any single player dominating the Persian, the Arabian Gulf, and yet here we are trying to reverse the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, something that in my lifetime has always been ranked as one of the biggest potential geopolitical threats the U.S.

Hassan Ahmadian, do you see Iran potentially accepting to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of a negotiation?

Well, it, it is open, as a matter of fact.

It's open only to a few tankers that coordinate with Iran.

That those are, uh the Iranians are saying belong to the aggressors and those working with them.

So Iran, how whose supreme leader has said that we are, uh, about, uh, war preparations and, uh, they will get what they lost out of them is force in its hand in this waterway because it's a it's a it's a leverage they have.

And also, it's a source in which they can, basically, through taxes or whatever, uh, get what they lost in the war.

When you say taxes, you mean this is what Marco Rubio described as a toll system a couple of days ago where Iran would charge quite a lot of money for each tanker that passes.

American tanker, Israeli tanker, and those who work with them, that's what the Iranians are saying as part of, uh, what they lost in the war.

There are lots of damages to Iran's infrastructure.

They're they want to rebuild, and they're saying the U.S.

and the Israel, who did this illegally because there's nothing legal about it.

He's talking about the legality of Iran's action in the Strait of Hormuz.

There's nothing legal about U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.

But the qu but the question I ask you, and this is important I know you want to come in on this.

The question I ask you is, do you see a scenario where Iran agrees to reopen, let's say fully, okay?

Reopen fully the Strait of Hormuz for the passage of all tankers as part of a negotiation.

They are under threat right now from this, uh, U.S.

president who wrote on his social media just a few hours ago saying, "Right now we have very good negotiations, but if a deal can't be made, I will bomb." What's the list of things that Donald Trump threatens to bomb?

I will blow up, his words, electricity plants in Iran, oil wells in Iran, Harg Island, maybe desalination plants.

So there's a threat, and Donald Trump is trying to present Iran with a fork-in-the-road moment and a binary decision: make a deal or be bombed.