UNITED States Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran’s demand to control and collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz would threaten the world’s economy and the principle of freedom of navigation, even in Asia.
Rubio spoke at the start of an annual meeting in Manila with Asean counterparts who have expressed alarm over the resurgent conflict in the Middle East that has battered their region.
Despite Washington’s preoccupation with the conflict, Rubio reassured “we’re with Asean 100%”.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.
Rubio also met with the other ministers of the four-nation Quad partnership – made up of the United States, Australia, India and Japan – where they discussed shared priorities around technology, humanitarian assistance, emergency response as well as maritime and transnational security.
They also issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to maritime security initiatives in the region.
“We are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region,” the leaders said in a statement yesterday.
Rubio added in a post on X that, “The Quad remains a priority, and we will meet again later this year.”
Rubio later met with his Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, where they discussed both regional issues and the situation in Iran, according to a US State Department spokesperson, along with a yet-to-be completed trade agreement to lower US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Indian goods.
“The Secretary and Minister Jaishankar agreed on the importance of finalising the interim trade deal, which is almost complete,” spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
Rubio yesterday said he talked a lot during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about a planned trip to the United States by President Xi Jinping.
He said that both sides had differences, but their job was to manage them, adding there were areas of potential cooperation.
Trump has said a summit with Xi could take place at the end of September.
Their meeting comes amid a fragile truce between the world’s biggest economies that could be complicated by Trump’s accusations of Chinese meddling in US elections, which Beijing has called “pure fabrication”.
Rubio said the allegations of election interference were not discussed with Wang. — AP/Reuters
