US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Iran has agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program, expressing hope that ongoing talks could help secure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the State Department's budget request, Rubio said: "We are in talks... There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, that for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program."
He said the US hopes such negotiations could lead to a broader understanding that would include the reopening of the strategic waterway.
"We're hopeful that something like that could happen, in which the straits would reopen, we would enter into a period of negotiations on very specific topics, delineated negotiations, in the hope of reaching an outcome that's acceptable to us and something they would be able to do as well," he said.
Rubio strongly criticized Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz, calling them "unlawful and illegal."
"There isn't a country on earth, other than Iran, and maybe Oman that flirted with it, that's in favor of what Iran is doing in the straits," he said. "The Chinese are against it, the Russians are against it, everyone is against it, the whole world is against it."
He said reopening the strait means that ships should be able to transit through international waters "without being fired upon" and "without paying a toll."
Asked whether sanctions relief had been discussed in exchange for reopening the strait, Rubio replied: "No, that hasn't been discussed."
"Any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program," Rubio said.
Rubio stressed that if Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz, the US will lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
He said Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and still involved in decision-making, but noted he has been communicating only through written messages and intermediaries.
He added that Iran's negotiating process appears to be highly centralized, with messages passed by Iranian officials being sent to a council for approval, a process he said can take "three to five days" before a response is returned.
Rubio also said US and Israeli strikes had severely degraded Iran's missile and drone capabilities, but acknowledged that Tehran still has "a lot of drones," noting they are relatively easy to produce.
"Iranian conventional shield has been substantially eroded -- eroded now in the aftermath of that," he added.
Rubio's comments come as Washington and Tehran continue efforts to turn a fragile ceasefire into a broader agreement following months of conflict that began Feb. 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Iranian authorities said more than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of the war, while at least 13 American service members have been killed in Iranian retaliatory attacks.
Tehran retaliated with attacks targeting Israel and US allies in the Gulf, alongside the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but subsequent talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. Efforts for a solution, however, have since continued.
