Day 119 | US says wants deal with Iran, but not “at any price”

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said Thursday that there were limits to what Washington would accept in any deal with Iran, warning that permitting Tehran to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz would open the door to "total chaos".

Rubio was in Bahrain as part of a regional tour to reassure Gulf partners hit hard by Iran during the Middle East war, which began on February 28 with a massive US-‘Israeli’ campaign of strikes against the Islamic republic.

The United States and Iran have signed a preliminary deal to end the conflict, embarking on negotiations expected to touch on thorny issues including Tehran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and global energy flows through the Hormuz.

But the Gulf and ‘Israel’ also have longstanding concerns about Iran's support for its allies in the region and its missile programme, and it remains unclear whether those topics will be addressed in the talks.

After meeting with Rubio on Thursday, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council emphasised that "lasting regional peace and security requires addressing the full spectrum of Iran's threats, including its ballistic missiles, drones and support of proxies".

Earlier, Rubio had acknowledged that while the US wants "a deal, we don't want a deal at any price".

"We want to ensure... that there is no part of this deal that's undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region," he added.

Rubio also sought to reassure the energy-rich Gulf states that the Hormuz strait, which they have relied on for decades to export oil and liquefied natural gas, would remain toll-free.

The Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned that any unauthorised crossings would be "dealt with".

The US and its allies have flatly rejected the introduction of fees or tolls, with Rubio reiterating Washington's position that Hormuz should be considered an international waterway and therefore not subject to charges.