U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on China to encourage Iran not to shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Rubio’s comments came after Iran’s Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of global oil and gas flows.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council will make a final decision on whether to close the strait.
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, told the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show on Fox News.
“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”
Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the U.S. and others.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately provide a comment.
On Monday, the European Union’s top diplomat said the closure would be dangerous and “not good for anybody”.
“The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge, especially closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is something that would be extremely dangerous and not good for anybody,” Kaja Kallas told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
U.S. officials said it “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites using 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. The strikes mark an escalation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
Tehran has vowed to defend itself.
Rubio on Sunday warned against retaliation, saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
He added that the U.S. is prepared to engage in talks with Iran.
