During a visit to New Delhi, US politician Marco Rubio said any deal with Iran must ensure Tehran never acquires a nuclear weapon and that reopening the Strait of Hormuz without tolls is part of the negotiations. Speaking at a joint press briefing with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Rubio described the strait as an international waterway and said Iran cannot claim the right to disrupt commercial shipping.
Rubio said the United States and Gulf partners had made “some progress” over the previous 48 hours on an outline that, if agreed, would guarantee completely open sea lanes — explicitly without levying transit fees. He stressed, however, that such an arrangement would only work with Iran’s full acceptance and compliance, and that many details remained to be negotiated in the coming days.
He warned against accepting a new status quo in which Iran’s threats to maritime traffic become normalised, saying it would set a dangerous precedent both in the region and elsewhere.
The Iranian Embassy in India pushed back, calling the allegations an attempt to distort regional realities and to divert attention from what it described as the destabilising policies of the United States and Israel. The embassy accused the two countries of undermining maritime security and provoking instability that has worsened global security and energy tensions.
On the nuclear issue, the embassy reiterated that Iran is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful and subject to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight. It added that, to date, the IAEA had not reported any diversion of Iran’s nuclear activities.
Rubio’s comments came amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to craft a broader agreement that addresses both nuclear concerns and regional security — including guaranteed, toll‑free access through the Strait of Hormuz. He emphasized that any durable solution will depend on verifiable Iranian compliance and further negotiations with regional partners.
Updated: May 24, 2026, New Delhi.
