USA Rubio: Blockade of Hormuz like "economic nuclear weapon"
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Iran is deliberately using the blockade of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as a weapon with the greatest possible effect.
28.04.2026, 05:40
SDA
"The Strait of Hormuz is basically an economic nuclear weapon that they're trying to use against the world - and they're showing off," Rubio said in an interview on Fox News.
That is why the rulers in Tehran should never be allowed to get their hands on nuclear weapons, he emphasized. "Imagine if these people had access to a nuclear weapon, they would take the whole region hostage," said the Secretary of State, who is also President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor.
Trump reportedly not satisfied with new Iranian proposal
Rubio did not want to comment on how Trump will react if Tehran remains unwilling to negotiate over its controversial nuclear program. Iran recently submitted a new proposal in the faltering negotiations on a settlement to the conflict. According to media reports, the draft provides for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the war - but the controversial Iranian nuclear program is only to be negotiated afterwards.
However, US President Trump is said to be skeptical of the proposal. Although he has not directly rejected the proposal, he has doubts about the sincerity of the Iranian leadership, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The New York Times also reported that Trump was not satisfied with the proposal.
Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz causes oil price to rise
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is Iran's most important means of exerting pressure in the negotiations. The strait is of crucial importance to the global economy for the transportation of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf states, among other things. As hardly any ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz, world market prices for crude oil and liquid gas are rising.
For its part, the USA has imposed a naval blockade against Iran in order to cut off the leadership in Tehran from the income from oil exports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on Platform X that Iran's oil production would soon "collapse" due to the blockade and that there would be gasoline shortages in the country. He compared the leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to "rats drowning in a drainpipe".
Tehran accuses the US government of piracy
The US military recently intercepted sanctioned Iranian oil tankers on the high seas. Tehran therefore accuses Washington of piracy. "This is the blatant legalization of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas," wrote Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai on the X platform. It is a "return of the pirates - only that they are now operating with state-issued powers".
A ceasefire is currently in place in the Iran war, which began two months ago. However, negotiations between the USA and Iran on a permanent settlement to the conflict have stalled. At the weekend, Trump canceled an announced trip by his negotiators to Pakistan at short notice. The government in Islamabad is mediating between the parties to the conflict.
Among other things, the USA is demanding that Iran surrender highly enriched uranium and refrain from making a nuclear bomb. The leadership in Tehran denies plans to build nuclear weapons, but insists on its right to a civilian nuclear program, including the right to enrich uranium.
Preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon was one of the declared goals of both the current war and the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
Israeli army reports new attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon
Despite the formal ceasefire, the Israeli military has reported that it has again bombed targets of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Israeli army announced that it had targeted more than 20 of the militia's infrastructure facilities in the south of the neighboring country and in the Bekaa Valley. The targets included weapons depots and rocket launching sites. The information could not initially be independently verified. Hezbollah is also continuing its attacks.
In total, more than 2,500 people have been killed in the latest clashes in Lebanon since the beginning of March, according to the Ministry of Health in Beirut. Over 7,800 were injured.
