Rubio: Iran seeks nuclear weapons to “blackmail” world

The United States and Iran are exchanging messages and maintaining contacts through intermediaries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“There are direct messages and talks taking place between parties inside Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries,” Rubio said. According to him, Donald Trump “prefers diplomacy and always prefers to reach a result.”

At the same time, Rubio stressed that Washington would welcome a scenario in which “Iran is led by people with a different vision for the future, and if such an opportunity arises we will seize it.”

He accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons to “threaten and blackmail the world”, a claim Tehran has for years denied, maintaining its nuclear programme was only for civilian purposes.

Commenting on the situation around the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio reiterated that recognising Iran’s sovereignty over the waterway is absolutely unacceptable for the United States and the international community, as it would create a dangerous precedent allowing countries to seize international maritime routes.