US Urges Global Action on Hormuz Shipping Crisis, Rubio Warns Iran

"It's in their interest to help," Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, noting that "the other countries get far more of their fuel from there than we do."

He declined to outline specific requests, saying such decisions would be left to the military. "Those specifics, I'll leave it to the Department of War to say exactly what," he said.

Rubio stressed that the burden of securing the vital waterway should not fall solely on Washington. "It's not help for us... very little of our energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz. It's the world that has a great interest in that, so they should step up and deal with it."

The Secretary said the situation could stabilise quickly if Iran altered its behaviour. "It could be open tomorrow if Iran stops threatening global shipping, which is an outrage and a violation of international law," he said.

Rubio also confirmed that indirect diplomatic exchanges with Iran were ongoing, facilitated by intermediary countries. "There are intermediary countries that are passing messages and progress has been made. Some concrete progress has been made," he said.

He pointed to early signs of improvement, noting that "there's a growing amount of energy that's been flowing through the strait - not as much as should be flowing, but some of it has picked up."

However, Rubio cautioned against over-optimism. "That's an ongoing and fluid process and not one we're going to negotiate or talk about in the media," he said, adding, "We'll see how it turns out. I don't want to prejudge it."

On broader geopolitical tensions, Rubio said Russia appeared focused on its war in Ukraine. "I think Russia's primarily concentrating on the war they have going on right now," he said, declining further comment.

He also addressed questions on US expectations from European allies, echoing President Donald Trump's concerns over burden-sharing. The United States, he said, has "contributed more to that fight than any other country in the world" in Ukraine, even as European leaders have at times described the conflict as not theirs.

Rubio made clear his diplomatic approach would remain focused on US interests. "The people I'm interested in making happy are the people of the United States. That's who I work for," he said.shocks and military escalation.

- IANS