Rubio Rejects Iran Tolls on Hormuz as Deal Strains Multiply

Washington and Tehran signed a preliminary agreement to halt the conflict and completed the first round of talks in Switzerland, opening a 60-day period of negotiations on sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program and the future of Hormuz.

The blockade imposed by Iran early in the war blocked maritime traffic in the strait and caused global oil prices to rise, but passages have begun to increase since the agreement was signed.

Iran has repeatedly insisted it will retain control over the waterway.

On Tuesday, Tehran and Oman announced in a joint statement that they would examine the costs to be charged for the management of the trade route and services and that they would insist on their sovereignty over the strait.

Rubio, who started a regional tour in the United Arab Emirates, said Washington would oppose such a step.

“This is an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” he said, adding that he believed “all countries in this region would agree.”

Tehran’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, has previously said that Hormuz will “never return” to the pre-war status quo, although both sides agreed to establish lines of communication to keep them open.

Meanwhile, the UN’s maritime agency said it would work with Iran, Oman and the US to begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded by the blockade after receiving the “necessary security guarantees”.

Traffic in the strait on Monday reached its highest level since the start of the war, but remained at just over 40 percent of the normal peacetime level of about 120 ships a day, according to two maritime monitoring platforms.

– Red lines –

Diplomacy continued apace Tuesday, with Iran’s president visiting mediator Pakistan, Rubio beginning a tour of Gulf allies and Lebanon and Israel beginning more direct talks in Washington.

However, Tehran has signaled that its ballistic missile program will not be part of any final solution.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in Pakistan, “If it were not for the missiles we have for our defense, Israel and the USA would destroy Iran like Gaza.” he said.

He added that the Islamic republic “will never, under any circumstances, negotiate with anyone regarding our defense capabilities.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed that there was no mention of ballistic missiles in the US-Iran preliminary agreement and said there could be no “double standards” regarding whether countries could have these missiles.

Iran fired hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones at Israel and its Gulf neighbors during the war; Israel has long viewed the program as an existential threat.

US President Donald Trump, who had previously tried to include missiles and Tehran’s support for its armed proxies in the negotiations, emerged last week to soften his stance, saying it was “a little unfair” that Iran did not have some missiles if other countries did.

Iran also denied US Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Tehran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back to nuclear sites bombed by the US and Israel last year.

But Trump emphasized that Iran “fully and completely agrees to the highest-level nuclear inspections going forward.”

When the United States joined Israel’s previous war with Iran in mid-2025, it bombed nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, including with powerful bunker-busting munitions.

The extent of the damage is unknown, although Trump claimed they were “destroyed.”

Iran’s UN Ambassador Ali Bahraini also told reporters that “no such decision has been taken” regarding the admission of IAEA inspectors.

– Sanctions and Congress –

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said both sides agreed on a “road map” to reach a final agreement within a 60-day period.

The U.S. Treasury temporarily lifted sanctions on Iran to allow Iran to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products by mid-August.

As part of the deal, Washington also agreed to release $12 billion in frozen funds to Iran, according to Iranian state media.

Diplomacy was also marred by a symbolic rebuke in Washington; The US Senate passed a House-passed resolution calling for an end to the war with Iran.

The legislative instrument has questionable legal force, but the vote means both chambers are on record against conflict while negotiations continue.

On the Lebanese front, the fifth round of negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli officials with the aim of ending the Israel-Hezbollah conflict began in Washington on Tuesday.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.