Rubio says US will not accept Iranian tolls on Hormuz
The United States and Iran signed a preliminary agreement to stop the war and completed the first round of talks in Switzerland as part of a 60-day negotiating period to resolve key issues such as sanctions relief and the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Iranian blockade, which began early in the conflict, blocked maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, causing global oil prices to rise, but since the signing of the US-Iran agreement transits have begun to increase again.
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Iran has repeatedly argued that it will retain control over the waterway, including in a joint statement with Oman on Tuesday that they would review the management of the trade route and the costs to be charged for services provided and insisting on their sovereignty over the strait.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who started a regional tour, reiterated Washington’s stance that such an arrangement was unacceptable.
“It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” he said, adding that he believed “all the countries in this region would agree”. Tehran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had earlier insisted the Strait of Hormuz “will never return” to the pre-war status quo, despite the foes agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN International Maritime Organization said it would begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded by the Hormuz blockade in cooperation with Iran, Oman and the United States and had “received the necessary security guarantees”.
According to two maritime monitoring platforms, traffic in the strait on Monday reached its highest level since the beginning of the war; this represents just over 40 percent of the normal peacetime level of about 120 ships per day.
nuclear disputes
Diplomacy continued apace Tuesday, with Iran’s president mediating with Pakistan, Rubio heading to the UAE for visits with Gulf allies and Lebanon and Israel beginning more direct talks in Washington.
But Iran has denied US Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Tehran agreed to invite back International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after Tehran denied them access to nuclear sites hit by its arch-enemies in a 12-day war last year.
“We have no meeting with the IAEA director general and no plans for the agency to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities, which have suffered from US and Zionist military aggression,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said.
But US President Donald Trump insisted Iran had “fully and completely agreed 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.
diplomatic whirlwind
In addition to the UAE, Rubio plans to visit Kuwait and Bahrain, which were attacked by Iran during the war, to discuss the agreement with Tehran and the Strait of Hormuz.
Comments from Rubio, an ardent Iran hawk, will be watched closely as he largely stays out of the spotlight and Vance takes a leading role in defending the deal.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was visiting key mediator Pakistan along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday.
Omani state media said Araghchi and Ghalibaf also met with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Oman, who expressed hope for a “peaceful and definitive solution”.
Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said both sides agreed on a “road map” to reach a final agreement within a 60-day period.
Iranian state media said they agreed to establish four negotiating groups on nuclear issues, sanctions and other issues.
lebanon war
On the Lebanese front, the fifth round of talks began in Washington on Tuesday between Lebanese and Israeli officials with the aim of ending the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts. Hezbollah leader Naim Kasim once again demanded a timetable for Israel’s complete withdrawal from the country.
The aim of the Washington talks will be to “completely end the cycle of violence”, a US State Department official told AFP.
Despite the easing of hostilities in Lebanon, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two people in the south on Tuesday, state media reported. Israel said it opened fire on Hezbollah militants who had infiltrated its self-declared “security zone”.
