United States is against charging money to allow usage of International Waterways – says Secretary Marco Rubio

The U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to Press at the Kuwait International Airport. He makes stand on Iran, Lebano and Sudan.

QUESTION:  You said that the United States was committed to the security of the Gulf states, which was an issue, of course, with the war in Iran.  Did you give reassurances?  And what kind of reassurances did you give the Gulf states to say that the U.S. is a reliable partner?

(Interruption.)

QUESTION:  We’ll take that as your answer.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  There you go. 

There’s your – I don’t know.  So, we don’t – here’s the – we have existing relationships with these countries that go back many, many decades. 

We have troop presence in these countries.  We have assets in these countries.  The security assurances lie in the fact that these – we didn’t even have to talk about that because they know it’s true.  They know we’ve been there with them and they’ve been there with us.  We have people there; we have people on the ground constantly working with them.  We have air defenses embedded with them.  We’ve got aircraft in these countries.  So I think the – I didn’t sense any doubts about our security assurances, because they’re real.  They’re not promises; they’re actual.  They exist. 

QUESTION:  But sir, what about – what about the conventional capabilities that Iran is going to be able to retain?  Did you make any assurances that – about a cap on missile or drone capabilities that Iran will have moving forward?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, we’re going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf.  That’s why we’re meeting with all of them tomorrow.  That’s why I’ve taken these trips now.  And it’s the reason why I’m here, apart from thanking them for the incredible support they gave us throughout this process. 

We want them to know and we want to reiterate it and begin to talk to them and engage them on conversations about every decision that’s made with regards to this negotiation.  We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region.  So we – I think that that’s something that our partners believe when we say because we’re doing it.  And we’re going to continue to do it, and we’re doing it with them now.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary —

QUESTION:  And Mr. Secretary, you meet with the GCC tomorrow. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Mm-hmm.

QUESTION:  Do you have any concerns at all that the GCC is planning to meet with Oman and Iran to discuss this new quote/unquote “mechanism” that the Iranians have floated?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, I think they’ll be against it.  I think the whole world will be against any mechanism that charges money to use an international waterway.  It’s that simple. 

The President’s already said that that’s not going to happen.  When we mean open the straits, we mean open the straits free and international waterways. 

So, we’ll express that tomorrow.  I am certain that not only will every country in the Gulf region be supportive, probably with the exception of Iran, but all the GCC members will be supportive, but the whole world will be supportive.  I know of no country on the planet that supports tolling or a fee for the use of the straits.  That’s just not – that’s not going to happen.  The President has been abundantly clear.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, what concerns, if any, did these Gulf allies share with you in private about the deal, about —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, you ask me what they – what concerns our allies shared with me in private, and you want me to tell you?  That —

QUESTION:  Yes.  (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, okay, I understand you’re doing your job.  But no, look, these are longstanding relationships with these countries, so we speak very frankly, very openly, very honestly. 

We get their input.  And that’s what we’re here to do, to get their input.  They’re our partners.  I’m not here to tell them.  I’m here to hear as well.  And so I thought they were very frank, honest, and important conversations, and I think we’re very strongly aligned.

QUESTION:  The U.S. waived oil sanctions against Iran on Monday.  Are you concerned —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  For 60 days.

QUESTION:  Are you concerned that Iran is going to use the extra income from that to fund proxy groups or recoup its military capacity?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, obviously anytime you enter into a negotiation it’s a process of give and take.  This is a temporary measure.  It’s for 60 days.  And as a result, we expect them to live up to the commitments they made in Switzerland.  If they don’t live up to those commitments, the President has a lot of options at his disposal, including – I’m not saying he’s going to do it, I’m saying including reversing these sanctions.  They made very straight-up commitments in Switzerland, and the President has been very clear they need to keep those commitments.  If they do, we’ll keep forward.  If not, the President will have options at his disposal for what to do about it.  Let’s hope they keep those commitments.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary —

QUESTION:  Why haven’t the Americans who have been detained in Iran been released?  Have you been pushing for their release, including two wrongfully detained Americans (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, we’re always – listen, we’re always concerned about wrongfully detained Americans everywhere in the world.  I – that’s always an issue we’ll raise in every forum that it becomes available.  But I don’t want to discuss any specific cases.  It complicates them.  And that’s not just true with Iran; that’s true in other parts of the world as well. 

But just know that the issue of wrongfully detained Americans – we have an entire office that’s dedicated to that.  We raise it in every forum and in every opportunity we get, and we make it our highest priority.  And this President, by the way, has a record of getting Americans released that’s unparalleled, the number of Americans that we’ve gotten released from around the world as a result of the efforts of the SPEHA Office as it’s called and, of course, of the President.  So we’ll always prioritize wrongfully detained Americans everywhere in the world.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, with oil price dropping and diplomacy advancing, is the administration dropping the idea of issuing new waivers for Russian oil?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Potentially.  I mean, that’s a decision the President will have to make as we get closer to the expiration date.  But that was – as I said, that was temporary.  That was designed to help stabilize the global market.  I’m not going to get ahead of the President on making announcements with regard to what will happen with that waiver once it expires.  But obviously, that’ll be an option he has available to him because the – oil prices are now dropping.  I think they opened today lower than they were before the conflict.  So if that trend continues, obviously that – the President will have to take that into account when making that decision. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary —

QUESTION:  (Inaudible) Israel-Lebanon talks, Israel has signaled that it’s reluctant to withdraw its forces back 10 kilometers from the buffer zone.  Is that something that you would support as these talks go on in Washington —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No —

QUESTION:  — Israel withdrawing from some zones in southern Lebanon?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, the whole – the only reason Israel is in Lebanon is because Hizballah launches rockets and drones from there.  They’ve made that clear.  And we – the talks continue today; they started yesterday, they’ll go on today, they’ll go on tomorrow.  And that’s exactly what – that they’re talking to the Lebanese about with our mediation.  And that is our hope, that the Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate, sovereign Lebanese Government will continue to be able to control and secure more and more of their own territory – because that’s who needs to control Lebanese territory, not a terrorist group like Hizballah. 

So that’s the goal.  And I think the Israelis have been clear.  They don’t have any quarrels with the Lebanese people, they don’t have any claims on the territory of Lebanon.  The reason why they’re involved there is because the territory of Lebanon is being used to launch drones and missiles against Israel.  But the more of that area the Lebanese Armed Forces is able to secure, the less of it’s in Hizballah’s control, the less Israel will be in Lebanon.  But obviously, that’s the process we’re working through right now with these talks.  It’s at the core of these talks.

QUESTION:  And is – is it your assessment that the Lebanese Armed Forces today, as it stands, are capable enough, trustworthy enough, to actually take back some of these territories?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, that’s what we have to do.  Look, we have to build up that capacity.  That’s been a longstanding challenge.  I think the willingness is there.  I think we need to help build up that capacity.  And one of the issues that’s been discussed in these negotiations – about the creation of pilot zones, specific defined areas where the Lebanese Armed Forces can go in, take control, and secure that territory, and then move on to the next pilot zone. 

So it’ll be a process.  This is not going to happen overnight.  I remind everybody that Israel was conducting operations in southern Lebanon well before this operation happened.  And so this is something we all want to see resolved for the future of Lebanon.  We want to see a Lebanon that’s in the control of their legitimate government, where there is no foreign government encroaching on their territory.  And I want to reiterate the Israelis have told us, and that is the only reason why they’re there, is because Hizballah is launching against their people.  If Hizballah wasn’t launching against them, they wouldn’t be there.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary —

QUESTION:  How soon should nuclear inspectors be allowed into Iran?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  As soon as possible.  As soon – and the President said that yesterday.  They’ll be there when they need to get there, but that needs to happen.  That’s a commitment they made, and it’s one they need to keep. 

QUESTION:  Sir, the President has continued to threaten to bomb the strait – bomb Iran, excuse me, if it doesn’t comply with some of his requirements in these negotiations.  Is that sort of in any way, shape, or form complicating these negotiations, to have the —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.

QUESTION:  No.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  What the President has stated is very clear.  We expect them to keep their – they want to get into a negotiation, we’ll do a negotiation.  If they make commitments at the negotiation, they need to keep them.  If they don’t keep them, the President has multiple options at his disposal. 

That includes sanctions; it includes other things.  So I think the President’s been clear.  If we’re going to get a deal, it has to be a real deal and it has to be a good deal.  If Iran wants to make a good and real deal, the United States is open to that.  If they’re not, then of course the President has options.  We want this to work out.  We hope it works out.  But if it doesn’t, the President knows what his options are, and I’m not – that’s all I’ll say about it for right now.

QUESTION:  But sir, do you think that – do you think —

QUESTION:  The President just announced —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Go ahead.

QUESTION:  The President just announced next phase of Iran talks for next week.  Are —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I think the – well, the technical group will be back, I believe, on the 29th or the 30th.  They’ve broken up into work groups on various subjects.  I believe they’re going back to Switzerland, if I’m not mistaken.  So – but either way, the technical group will reconvene again on – I believe it’s the 30th.  Don’t exactly quote me, but that date – the working – they’ve broken up the negotiation into separate work streams on separate topics, and the technical group will return on the 30th next week to continue those talks.

QUESTION:  Sir —

QUESTION:  Are you going to be involved in any of those technical talks?

QUESTION:  Do you believe that some elements of U.S. intelligence have assessed that Israel is interested in undermining the current MOU?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I don’t know.  What intelligence are you talking about? 

QUESTION:  It’s been reported in —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, it’s being reported, then it’s fake.

QUESTION:  Well, is it true?  Do you believe that to be true?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  I don’t know where you’re getting that stuff from.  We’re working on this.  The Israelis are – exactly know what we’re working on.  All of our partners in the region know what we’re working on.  Everybody understands what the President’s red lines and positions are on this.  I don’t know what reports you’re —

QUESTION:  Are you going to be involved in the technical talks, sir?

QUESTION:  Is it your view that this regime is more reasonable than the one that preceded it?  Are they easier to deal with?  And are they unified now?  Are they providing unified —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I’m not going to comment on their internal structures and whether they’re unified or not unified, because it doesn’t matter.  What matters is what they do or they don’t do.  They either do the things they claim and agreed to do, or they don’t.  And if they do it, then great, we’ll keep moving forward.  And if they don’t, the President’s been clear about what’s going to happen and what could happen.  But let’s hope they do.  Let’s hope they mean it.

QUESTION:  Are you going to be involved in the technical talks going forward?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No.  The technical talks are at the staff level, experts on nuclear energy as an example, on sanctions, and so forth.  So the technical level will be – there’s individuals from the State Department that will be involved in those talks along with people from the Department of Energy and so forth.  That’s what the technical level is.

QUESTION:  Did you —

QUESTION:  Can I ask one on Sudan, sir?  You were just in the UAE.  Did Sudan come up —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  It has, and it always comes up.

QUESTION:  — in your discussions with Emirati officials?  Were you pushing the UAE to stop its support for the RSF, especially with the encircling of —  

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we’ve pushed all sides.  We created – we had great momentum coming out of Berlin in terms of some agreements that were reached.  Now we need to make sure that those are complied with.  We continue to engage with Massad Boulos, our special envoy – is engaged on this on a daily basis.  Every opportunity we get – we’ll raise it again tomorrow because the Saudis will be there as well.  So we raise it with all of the parties that are involved or have relationships with the parties on the ground.  But we want to see a ceasefire combined with the opening of humanitarian areas so we can get humanitarian relief, and then ultimately we want it to lead to a permanent peace, and we don’t want – but our number one priority is to get the fighting to stop and the humanitarian aid to flow, because what we’re facing there is a catastrophic humanitarian situation, and it’s only going to get worse.  And that can’t happen.

So we’ve continued to pressure – I wouldn’t even use the term “pressure” – we’ve continued to raise this topic with all of the countries, particularly the three other countries or four countries we’re dealing with that have influence over the parties on the ground. 

Okay?  Thanks, you guys.  

QUESTION:  Sir, can you clarify – can you clarify what the role of Michael Boulos was today? 

QUESTION:  (Off-mike.)   

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Mike was just – Michael Boulos?

QUESTION:  Yes.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Oh, he was there to see his brother who lives here.  He was just there to see me and catch up. 

QUESTION:  Was there any (inaudible)? 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, no, no.  No.

QUESTION:  But (inaudible) working lunch? 

QUESTION:  But there was a working lunch, right?  So —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  There was, but he wasn’t – but the conversations around him had to do with – he was just here because his brother lives here, and I’m a good friend of Michael’s, so we had a chance to catch up. 

MODERATOR:  All right, thank you all.  Thank you. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Okay?  Thank you.