Administration

Rubio: Iran won’t be able to leverage US politics into forcing ‘bad’ deal on Trump

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/15/26 4:57 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 05/15/26 4:57 PM ET

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said Iran attempting to use U.S. politics, specifically rising energy prices and its impact on Americans, will not pressure President Trump and lead him into a “bad” peace deal.

Rubio offered the remarks during an interview with NBC News‘s Tom Llamas, who asked if Trump’s remarks in China about how he does not “think about Americans’ financial situations” when negotiating with Iran were “out of touch.”

“No, because I think what the president is making clear is that we’re not going to let Iran use that as leverage,” he replied. “I think what the president is making clear is if the Iranians think that they are going to use our domestic politics to pressure him into a bad deal, that’s not going to happen. We’ve taken extraordinary measures to keep gas prices lower than they are in other parts of the world.”

Rubio said that there will be a “dramatic reduction” of energy prices once the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s supply travels, is reopened, “because all that pent-up oil that’s being held hostage by Iran –– once that reaches the marketplace, it will have a very positive impact.”

“But I would say there’s a price attached to a nuclear Iran,” he continued. “If Iran ever acquires a nuclear weapon, they will immediately –– what would stop them from controlling the straits then? And then forget about it being a three-month or a six-month problem. It could be a permanent one.”

Rubio also said China agreed with the U.S. that the Strait of Hormuz should not be “militarized” and opposed the installation of a tolling system. He added that both countries agreed not to allow Iran to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.

Progress in negotiations has stalled between the U.S. and Iran amid their ceasefire since early April. Trump earlier this week rejected Iran’s 14-point peace proposal. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian Parliament, urged the U.S. to accept his country’s proposal or else U.S. taxpayers “will pay for it.”

Trump claimed that he reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying Xi is “very happy” with U.S. efforts to reopen it. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, said Friday that it saw “no point” for the U.S. conflict with Iran to continue.

“There is no point in continuing this conflict which should not have happened in the first place,” it said in a statement. “China always believes that dialogue and negotiation is the right way forward, and the use of force is a dead end. Now that the door of dialogue has been opened, it should not be shut again.”

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