Rubio says Iran keeps reneging on deals while ‘paying the price’

MANILA: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the United States had kept its end of a deal with Iran but Tehran had kept reneging on agreements while suffering tremendous losses.

“These people make deals and then they break it almost immediately or they decide, ‘oh, let’s change the deal’. That’s not how deals work,” he said

“So now they’re paying the price for it. And maybe they’ll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses,” he added.

Rubio claimed that negotiations with Iran were difficult because, according to him, Tehran either breaks agreements or attempts to alter their terms after they are reached. He said Iran was now “paying the price” for its actions and suggested the country could change its approach.

He also defended President Donald Trump’s hardline policy towards Iran. Responding to remarks by Iranian officials referring to an “eye for an eye” approach, Rubio said Trump’s stance was “a head for an eye”. He claimed Iran’s industrial infrastructure was being “decimated”, resulting in billions of dollars in damage, and warned that “the price on Iran will get higher every night until they come to their senses”.

Addressing Iran’s economy, Rubio said the country had the potential to become “the richest country in the Middle East” but accused its leadership of diverting resources to regional armed groups instead of domestic development. He alleged that Iran provides support to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Shia militias, and said the United States’ primary objective remained “a denuclearised Iran”. He added that Washington would not allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.

Commenting on Yemen, Rubio said he hoped the Houthis would de-escalate the conflict, claiming the group had been influenced by Iran.

Rubio also described Saudi Arabia as “a strategic ally” of the United States while discussing a proposed civil nuclear cooperation agreement between Washington and Riyadh. He said the deal would be submitted to the US Congress following an official announcement and reiterated that the US preferred countries pursuing peaceful civilian nuclear programmes to partner with Washington rather than other nations. Reports indicate the Trump administration plans to send the agreement to Congress in the coming days after the two sides signed a preliminary deal in Riyadh last year.

Earlier Rubio said that the US would “love to reach a diplomatic settlement” with Iran.

“We’d love to reach an agreement if it were possible with Iran … where they say, ‘We will no longer sponsor terrorism, and we will not pursue a nuclear weapon or the things you need for a nuclear weapon,” he had told reporters.