Rubio says Strait of Hormuz to reopen ‘one way or another’ amid Iran war

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Al Jazeera that the Strait of Hormuz will “reopen one way or another” in the wake of the eventual end of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed to open traffic, Rubio rejected Iran’s demand that it must maintain “sovereignty” over the arterial waterway as part of any agreement to end the war.

“The Strait of Hormuz will be open when this operation is over … one way or another,” Rubio said. “It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block the commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it’s open.”

He threatened “real consequences” if Iran closes the strait after the fighting ends.

The US has previously sought to raise a coalition to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but has faced wariness from many traditional allies concerned about tacit entry into the conflict.

Rubio also took aim at NATO members who have denied the US military access to airspace and military bases for its Iran operations.

Rubio’s statements on Monday broadly reflected a list of demands put forth by Washington to end the war.

Iran has rejected the proposal, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian releasing its own list of demands, including “recognising Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm int’l guarantees against future aggression”.

For his part, Trump told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday that he hopes to “take the oil in Iran” including by possibly seizing the key export hub of Kharg Island.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” he added. “It would also mean we had to be there [on Kharg Island] for a while.”

On Monday, Trump threatened to “blow up” desalination plants in Iran if a deal is not made, in what would be a blatant violation of international law.

The Trump administration has presented a carousel of objectives in the war, including degrading Iran’s military capability, preventing it from ever developing a nuclear weapon, and helping to foment regime change.

However, its endgame has remained unclear, with its final goals possibly diverging from Israel, which has pushed for more comprehensive regime change.

To date, at least 1,937 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, with at least 20 killed in Israel, 26 killed across the Gulf states, and 13 US soldiers killed.

Rubio told Al Jazeera that the administration did not expect the war to drag on indefinitely.

“We have very clear objectives that we’re trying to achieve here. Those objectives are the destruction of their air force, which has been achieved; the destruction of their navy, which has largely been achieved; [and] a significant reduction in the number of missile launchers that they have, which we’re well on our way to achieving.”

“And we are going to destroy the factories that make those missiles and those drones that they are using to attack their neighbours and the United States and our presence in the region,” he said.

“And that’s something that’s not going to take months. I’m not going to tell you exactly how many weeks, but a matter of weeks, not months,” he said.