Rubio: Iran deal won’t ‘counter the interests of our allies’; Hormuz tolls or fees unacceptable: ‘International waterways do not belong to any nation’

Amid deep Israeli dissatisfaction with the inclusion of Lebanon in the US-Iran deal and the clause that unilaterally says US allies are part of the memorandum of understanding, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington will ensure that none of the decisions made as part of the final agreement “will counter the interests of our allies and partners.”

“We are open for peace that is enduring and real and doesn’t undermine the security and prosperity of the US or its allies,” he tells a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.

Rubio also warns that Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways, risking “total chaos.”

“International waterways do not belong to any nation [or] state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos,” he says.

“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion.”

Rubio says the US wants a deal with Iran, but not at any price.

He rejects Iranian attempts to collect what it describes as service fees and not tolls, saying that “at the end of the day, it’s all semantics.”