U.S. Secretary of State: "Iran Has Lost Control of the Strait of Hormuz"... Iran: "Full Control of the Strait"

"Iran's Economy Is in Complete Free Fall"
"The Trump Administration's Benchmark Is Preventing Iran from Possessing Nuclear Weapons"

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Oct. 7 local time that Iran had lost control of the Strait of Hormuz, and reiterated that the United States would not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons. In a separate speech in Athens, Greece, he linked ancient Greek ideas of statehood to the Trump Administration's "America First" policy and urged Europe to strengthen its defense capabilities and reshape its alliances.

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio Marco. Yonhap News.

At a joint press conference between the United States and Greece held at Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that day, Secretary Rubio said, "The Strait of Hormuz is open," adding that "Iran has lost control of the strait."

Secretary Rubio said sanctions had left Iran's economy "in complete free fall." He said the economic situation would worsen further and criticized Iran's leadership for directing resources toward supporting armed groups and acquiring weapons rather than improving people's lives.

He made the remarks in response to a question about whether the United States might allow Iran to retain some uranium enrichment capability. Secretary Rubio did not specify what level of enrichment would be acceptable. Instead, he stressed that "Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons" and that any agreement acceptable to the United States must ensure Iran cannot acquire them.

He claimed that Iran had sought to develop nuclear weapons after building up a large missile and drone force to make external military responses difficult. He said the Trump Administration's military operations had significantly weakened Iran's military capabilities and that preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons was a clear U.S. benchmark.

Iran, however, rejected the claim, saying it still controlled the Strait of Hormuz. According to foreign media reports, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told Fars News Agency that the Iranian military had complete control of the strait.

Secretary Rubio also stressed the need to diversify energy supply chains. He said this was necessary to prevent disruptions to supplies from a particular region from threatening the entire world, or one country from using energy as leverage to constrain another country's policy decisions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.