US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington was expecting a response from Iran on Friday to US proposals for a deal to end the conflict.
“We’re expecting a response from them today at some point… I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do,” Rubio told reporters on Friday during a visit to Rome.
“The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation,” he said.
He also slammed as “unacceptable” efforts by Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz, following a report that Tehran has created an authority to approve transit through the vital waterway.
“Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway… That’s an unacceptable thing that they’re trying to normalise,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Rome.
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No decisions yet on withdrawing from NATO
Rubio also said that President Donald Trump has yet to decide how to respond to some allies denying the US military the use of their bases in its war on Iran.
Rubio was asked about that threat and the possibility of the US withdrawing from the NATO military alliance.
“If one of the main reasons why the US is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other contingencies, and now that’s no longer the case, at least when it comes to some NATO members, that’s a problem, and it has to be examined,” he told reporters.
He added that “ultimately that’s a decision for the president to make”, adding: “He hasn’t made those decisions yet.”
