Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t mince words when responding to Iran’s decision to cut off peace negotiations.
Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning on the State Department’s budget request amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
During his testimony, he noted that part of the agreement Washington is pursuing with Iran is that the regime would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “They did not, at which point the president decided, and I think appropriately, we can’t have a world in which Iran — only Iranian ships get through the Strait,” Rubio said. “And so, if they’re gonna shut down the Strait for everybody, we’re gonna shut down the Strait for them, and we have done that through a very effective blockade.”
He noted that the financial cost for the regime “is in the hundreds of millions of dollars that they are losing in lost revenue that they’re not generating as a result of that.”
The secretary further explained that “talks with Iran are not like talks with Switzerland” and that the regime has “agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that, just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention, much less enter discussions about.”
But one of the main challenges is the fact that Iran’s “internal regime is somewhat fractured in the sense of it takes days to get responses from their system,” Rubio said.
🚨 NOW: Sec. Marco Rubio says it PERFECTLY
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 2, 2026
"If Iran is going to shut down the straits for everybody, WE are going to shut down the straits for THEM!"
"The cost to Iran every single DAY in lost revenue is in the hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars that they are losing in lost… pic.twitter.com/tTyznM13j2
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Iranian state media reported on Monday that the regime has halted its indirect peace talks with the United States. The regime cited Israel’s recent military strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a terrorist group Tehran supports. Iran claims these strikes violate the ceasefire agreement, according to NBC News.
Iran halts ceasefire talks with US, says it will keep Strait of Hormuz closed https://t.co/N8VV1fyLa8
— JP (@jpitarom) June 2, 2026
The regime has stopped sending messages to U.S. officials until Israel stops its military action against the terrorist organization. This happened as both sides were working to extend the the ceasefire that was established in April.
President Donald Trump has pushed back on claims that the talks were halted and said discussions are still ongoing. In a post on Truth Social, the president insisted that Iran wants to come to an agreement that would result in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and limits on its nuclear program. He also told NBC News that he had not received messages from the regime about suspending talks.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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