WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's negotiating team has not offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and insisted that any sanctions relief was tied to Tehran giving up its nuclear programme.
"Right now, everything that's been discussed with them (Iran) is that... any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear programme," Rubio told a Senate hearing.
Testifying in Congress publicly for the first time since the Iran war began, Rubio said there will be sanctions relief for Iran if they agree to give up their nuclear activities.
"Iran is being sanctioned because they've highly enriched uranium. Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities. If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief associated with their commitment and compliance with those agreements," he said. Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning as the Trump administration seeks congressional approval for its proposed 30% cut to the foreign affairs budget and a 50% increase in military spending.
He was to appear at three other hearings later on Tuesday and on Wednesday, as his fellow Republicans have been showing signs of concern about the Iran war.
Trump insists that gasoline prices will come down and has insisted for weeks that he will reach a good deal to end the conflict. Iran wants an interim agreement with sanctions relief that would allow it access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, but Washington has continued to add sanctions against Iranian actors while talks have taken place.
Rubio did not specify when there might be such a deal. He said Iran had intended to build up its conventional weapons capabilities as a "shield" for its nuclear programme. "What they tried to do is they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield," he said, spelling out why Trump felt it was imperative to launch the war.
Lawmakers, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans, have been increasingly questioning the fighting, as the Iran conflict enters its fourth month. Last month, the Senate voted to advance a war powers resolution that would end the Iran conflict unless Trump obtains Congress' authorisation. Days later, House leaders abruptly postponed a vote on a similar resolution when it looked likely to pass. Senators also asked about US forces firing on boats off Venezuela since September, in a campaign the administration says is intended to stop "narco-traffickers".
Iran is reviewing a proposed agreement with the US to halt their war but has not communicated with Washington for a few days, Iranian media reported on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said negotiations were ongoing.
Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final text of a temporary deal, and was taking a "stern" approach given what it sees as a history of US non-compliance and longstanding mistrust, Mehr News Agency cited a source as saying. - Reuters
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