Rubio warns Iran not to close Strait of Hormuz

Washington [US], June 23: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, after Iranian lawmakers backed such a move, which would likely disrupt global oil exports.
"If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake," Rubio said on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the US launched airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in what marked a major escalation in the war between Israel and Iran.
Closing the key shipping route between Iran and Oman, which is around 55 kilometres wide, would amount to "economic suicide" for Tehran, Rubio told US broadcaster Fox News. "It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours," the US secretary of state said.
"It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response, not just by us, but from others." Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian parliament backed closing the Strait of Hormuz, according to a member of the parliamentary security committee. However, the final decision lies with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all strategic matters.
United States Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have said that the US is not seeking to topple the government in Iran via "regime change" and is not at war with the country in the wake of its unprecedented surprise attack overnight on three of Iran's nuclear sites.
The comments on Sunday followed Washington, DC joining Israel's strikes on its arch-foe, which have been met by daily retaliatory strikes from Iran and are now in their 10th day.
Vance said on Sunday that the US had successfully set back Iran's nuclear programme, adding that US President Donald Trump now hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution.
Speaking on the NBC News show Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, he maintained his country was "not at war with Iran, we're at war with Iran's nuclear programme".
"We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it's already been built out. We want to end their nuclear programme," Vance said, adding: "We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here." Meanwhile, Hegseth claimed the series of US strikes against Iran "devastated" its nuclear programme, as he asserted Washington was not seeking "regime change" in Tehran.
There has been no independent confirmation of how heavily the US strikes impacted the sites, or Tehran's nuclear efforts, which it has repeatedly said are for civilian purposes only. The Pentagon chief urged Iran's leaders to find an off-ramp to the conflict after Trump announced the strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordow, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing that the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people".
"I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table," Hegseth added in the news conference with General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"This mission was not, and has not, been about regime change," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune