Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, claiming that Iran has agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it had refused to discuss just a month ago. This comes even as Tehran announced it was halting peace talks and moving to fully close the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio's Testimony on Capitol Hill
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the first time since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran in February—a conflict initially pitched as a short, weeks-long campaign—Rubio reiterated the administration's claims that a nuclear deal is within reach. He arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning, following reports from Iran's state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency that Tehran would stop exchanging messages with Washington through intermediaries, citing Israel's military operations in Lebanon as a ceasefire violation.
“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week—that for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago they said they would not,” Rubio told senators.
Claims About Iranian Leadership and Military
Rubio also claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader after the latter was killed in the initial US-Israeli strikes on February 28, is alive and increasingly involved in the regime's efforts. “I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio said.
On the military front, Rubio suggested that Iran's missile program has been “substantially degraded,” its launcher capacity reduced, and its drone-building capability “eroded.” He added, “There is no Iranian navy. It lies at the bottom of the ocean, and will soon, within a number of years, be prime fishing spots, because they'll turn into reefs.” However, Rubio conceded that the regime still possesses “a lot of drones” because they are easy to manufacture, calling it “a pervasive problem around the world.”
Contested Claims and Military Assessments
These assertions about the extensive destruction of Iran's military capabilities have been contested. The New York Times reported in May that Iran retained roughly 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, though analysts noted that the more significant damage may be to Iran's ability to replace them, with over 85% of Iran's ballistic missile, drone, and naval defense industrial base damaged or destroyed.
Two-Phase Framework for Negotiations
Rubio laid out a two-phase framework in more granular terms than the administration had previously offered publicly. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz—with Iran clearly announcing it is not charging tolls, helping remove the mines it placed there, and committing not to fire on ships—is a precondition for any talks, not a bargaining chip. “That's the predicate that opens the door to phase two,” he said. Phase two would require Iran to commit to disposing of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and to negotiate “severe and long-term limitations, and or cancellation of enrichment activity.”
Sanctions Relief and Blockade
In an exchange with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Rubio ruled out offering sanctions relief simply to reopen the vital waterway, which has been nearly closed since the war began. “Any sanctions relief is condition-based,” he said, tied to Iran's nuclear program, the long-held basis for the sanctions. “That's not been discussed, that's not been offered.”
The ceasefire agreed in April had included an Iranian commitment to reopen the strait. Trump later said Iran had “knowingly failed” to honor that pledge, and on April 13, the US launched a counter-blockade targeting all ships seeking to reach Iranian ports. Rubio told senators that the blockade is costing Tehran “hundreds of millions of dollars a day” in lost oil revenue. “If they're going to shut down the straits for everybody,” he said, “we're going to shut down the straits for them.”
