WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday during Senate and House committee hearings focused on funding for the State Department.
Much of Rubio’s Senate hearing centered around global conflicts and crises, including the ongoing stalemate with Iran. In addition to Iran, recent Russian attacks on Ukraine, aid for Taiwan were just some of the topics lawmakers questioned Rubio on.
Rubio shed some light on the latest negotiations with Iran.
“What needs to happen is very simple. They need to announce that they will no longer fire on commercial ships that are going through or threaten to fire on ships because in many cases ships just won’t move. They won’t go, not because they got fired on, but because of the risk of being fired upon and so they have to announce very clearly ‘the straits are now open, we’re not charging a toll.’ We will help move the mines that they put in there,” Rubio said. “Phase two is they have to commit to very specific negotiations on the disposition of the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere.”
Rubio also discussed ongoing challenges in the conflict, including Iran’s drone capability.
“They still have a lot of drones because these are easy to make. We all know it’s not an Iran challenge. This is a global challenge,” Rubio said. “This is a pervasive problem around the world… but nonetheless, even their drone-building capability has been eroded.”
Secretary Rubio was also asked about the status of Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be Iran’s current supreme leader following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei. The son of the former ayatollah has not been seen publicly since the joint U.S. and Israeli military operation earlier this year that killed his father and other top Iranian officials. Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to have been injured in the operation.
What seemed like a potential breakthrough in talks last week, was muddied following Israeli military attacks near the Lebanese capital of Beirut. Iranian state media reported Monday that Tehran has suspended talks with the U.S. as a result of Israel’s actions.
According to Axios, citing sources familiar with a conversation Monday between President Trump and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump reportedly shared strong words, urging Netanyahu to back away from broader military escalation in Lebanon.
Following the call with Netanyahu, President Trump reportedly said Israeli forces would not advance on Beirut. Netanyahu later stated Israel would focus military operations- as planned- in southern Lebanon, striking Hezbollah targets.
As diplomacy hangs on a knife’s edge in the Middle East, a large-scale overnight Russian attack rocked Kyiv and other targets across Ukraine. The attacks killed more than a dozen people and injured nearly 100 others.
In a video message Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his country that more attacks could be coming.
“The Russians continued their attacks during the day with around 100 more drones. Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defense forces does not allow us to shoot down a significant proportion of the missiles,” Zelenskyy said. “According to our intelligence, another large-scale attack may occur tonight. Please, I strongly urge you to pay attention to air raid alerts.”
