Call it a geopolitical pressure point — or just another crisis the rest of the world will have to handle.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is brushing off fears that Iran’s grip on the vital Strait of Hormuz poses a serious threat to the United States, even as the regime ramps up attacks on commercial shipping and rattles global energy markets.
Appearing on Hannity with host Sean Hannity, Rubio made it crystal clear: this is a headache for Europe, Asia, and Gulf allies — not Washington.
The backdrop? A simmering Iran conflict that Donald Trump says could be wrapped up in “two or three weeks,” with the former president signaling confidence that American involvement is nearing its endgame.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow artery through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply flows — has turned into a high-stakes flashpoint. Tehran has reportedly been harassing cargo vessels, launching attacks, and even floating the idea of charging tolls for passage after U.S. and Israeli strikes.
But Rubio isn’t losing sleep over it.
He acknowledged the obvious: Iran’s behavior is a problem. Just not America’s problem.
Then he unloaded.
“Well, the Strait of Hormuz, those are international waters, so anything Iran does to impede commercial traffic is illegal. For all these countries that like to talk about international law, it’s a violation of maritime law to impede the free flow of travel in international waters, so that’s number one. Number two, it’s illegal to bomb and hit and attack commercial shipping and sink them. That’s what the Nazis did during World War II in the Atlantic and that’s what they are doing now to ships from countries they don’t like. These are terroristic acts they are undertaking so the United States gets very little energy through the Strait of Hormuz. Our allies ship a lot of oil through there, meaning our Gulf allies, and certainly countries in Asia and Europe depend on it.”
Rubio doubled down, arguing that America’s direct reliance on the strait is minimal, making the crisis far more urgent for others.
“We depend very little on the Straits so if, in fact, Iran decides to set up a toll, if they decide they are going to illegally control the Strait and decide they are going to try to do that, look, I imagine that will be the president’s call whether he wants to help but this is a problem for the world. It’s countries around the world that should be stepping up and dealing with that and saying that’s intolerable and we’ve encouraged them to do.”
Still, Americans are feeling the ripple effects. Gas prices have surged past $4 a gallon nationwide for the first time since 2022 — a painful reminder that even distant conflicts can hit close to home.
Trump, however, is projecting confidence — and a quick resolution. Earlier Tuesday, he brushed aside concerns about the strait entirely, framing the mission in stark, singular terms:
“I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”
