US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Rubio's comments on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" show came after Iran's Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas flows.
"I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil," said Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, Reuters reported.
"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 US and others.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
40 minutes ago
- Arab News
US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon
BAGHDAD: The United States has ordered staff from its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave the countries, with the departures taking place as American strikes on Sunday targeted nuclear facilities in nearby Iran. More diplomatic personnel left Iraq on Saturday and Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to 'streamline operations,' a US official told AFP. The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week 'out of an abundance of caution and due to heightened regional tensions,' the official added. In Lebanon, the US embassy said the State Department on Sunday had ordered staffers' family members and non-emergency US government personnel to leave the country. A statement on the embassy website cited 'the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.' Earlier in the day, Washington joined Israel's war against Iran, with US President Donald Trump announcing strikes on the Islamic republic's main nuclear sites. After the strikes, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned that bases in the region used to launch US attacks 'will be considered legitimate targets.' Fears were also growing over possible intervention by Iran-backed armed factions around the Middle East, who have threatened Washington's interests should it join Israel's campaign. Israel has already fought a war in Lebanon with the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah, leaving it badly weakened before a ceasefire took hold in November. On Sunday, Hezbollah said the US strikes revealed 'the true face of the United States of America as the largest threat to regional and international security and stability.' The group has not previously expressed any intention to intervene militarily on Iran's side, but its chief Naim Qassem said last week that it would 'act as we see fit.' Washington has a 'do not travel' advisory in place for Lebanon. Iraq, meanwhile, has for years navigated a delicate balancing act between its allies Tehran and Washington, has also long been a fertile ground for proxy battles. On Sunday, the Iraqi government expressed 'its deep concern and strong condemnation of the targeting of nuclear facilities' in Iran, spokesperson Basim Alawadi said. 'This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,' he added.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Twenty killed in suicide bombing at Damascus church
At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, health authorities and security sources said. It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar Assad was toppled in December. Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Daesh (Islamic State). He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, a ministry statement added. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up. Daesh has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Assad's fall, but this was the first to succeed, another security source told Reuters. Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as saying that 52 people were also injured in the blast. A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from inside the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered pews and masonry. Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led the offensive against Assad before taking over in January for a transitional phase, has repeatedly said he will protect minorities. 'We unequivocally condemn the abhorrent terrorist suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, Syria,' the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement. 'We demand that the Syrian transitional authorities take immediate action to hold those involved accountable and implement measures to guarantee the safety of Christian communities and all religious groups, allowing them to live without fear.' Daesh had previously targeted religious minorities, including a major attack on Shiite pilgrims in Sayeda Zainab in 2016 — one of the most notorious bombings during Assad's rule. The latest assault underscores the group's continued ability to exploit security gaps despite the collapse of its territorial control and years of counterterrorism efforts.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Conflict provides no honor or glory, just remorse
Tens of thousands of civilians are being killed because they were born in the wrong place and simply have the 'wrong' passport. Few people would choose to live in a state of war, or in a place where they are denied freedoms other countries provide. That is not to say that people do not want to be from the countries they live in, but they want their children to be educated and they want their families to be fed, safe and sheltered. According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, 'an estimated over 940,000 people were killed by direct post-9/11 war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001-2023. Of these, more than 432,000 were civilians.' Since this report was released in 2023, there have been at least two major conflicts in Sudan and Gaza, in which tens of thousands more civilians have been killed, bringing that total to more than 500,000 — there are cities with smaller populations than that. Who knows what the situation between Iran and Israel will bring? Civilians overall do not appear to choose to go to war — some support it, others do not. But it is those in government, the people in charge, that make the decision to go to fight. None of us chose to be born where we were — that is up to nature. If we are lucky, nature puts us in a country that feels like home and provides peace and security. But around the world, there are many places where people are not so fortunate. They may love their nationality, but do so in the face of oppressive dictatorships or neighbors determined to shift the boundaries. On more than one occasion, I have heard Westerners ask why people living under oppressive regimes appear to simply sit back and take it. It is easy to ask such questions when you live in a house with clean running water, a door that locks and a reliable power source; where you can speak freely and generally live without fear of retribution. These people asking for such courage are often the same people who get angry when their city's streets are blocked by a peaceful demonstration, where protesters are not confronted with a volley of live bullets. It would be reasonable to draw the conclusion that children who grow up in war zones, or under the rule of oppressive regimes, are more inclined to take up arms later in life — indeed there is evidence that shows this to be the case. But in 2016, I went to Lebanon to see the work being done to help educate Syrian schoolchildren who had fled their country with their parents after the civil war began. I spoke to several children about what they thought their futures held for them and not one of them said they wanted to take up arms and fight. There was no talk of revenge. They aspired to be doctors, teachers, engineers — the list was endless. Several of the children said they wanted to be able to return to Syria and help rebuild their country. I have not met many people who want to go to war. If we are lucky, nature puts us in a country that feels like home and provides peace and security. Peter Harrison There was a time when dying for your country was seen as honorable. Most now accept that they can help more when alive, rather than dead. In 2007, I was at the Kajaki hydroelectric plant in Afghanistan working for a regional newspaper from southwest Britain. A worker asked why I was there. I told him I was there as a newspaper journalist working as the defense reporter. He said that one after another, people from the West (generally), be they politicians or media, would arrive, take photos, ask him the same questions about how he felt about the Taliban and the International Security Assistance Force, and then leave. 'But nothing ever changes,' he said. Of course, he was right to say this. Did I seriously believe it would make any difference for me to report on what I saw was happening in his country? Of course not. Like every other, I would write my story, leave and work on the next one. In Afghanistan, there were many 'hearts and minds' projects aimed at creating a community. Market stall areas were created and police stations were painted pink to make them 'more inviting' — usually ideas cultivated by foreign nongovernmental organizations. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the Afghanistan war — military and civilians — and this man's country was eventually handed back to the Taliban, who brought back their highly restrictive form of rule. I have no clue what happened to him. My hope is that, rather than being seen as someone who might have collaborated with Western forces, he was seen as an essential worker at the power plant, providing electricity to all. History is littered with wars largely started as the result of one ideology or another, often under the claim of fighting terror or another force of evil — but most trace back to an ideology that favors the few. We live in a time where narcissism and gaslighting have never seemed more apparent, whether at home, in the workplace or among world leaders. It is not a new phenomenon, but social media and the acceptance of its unsolicited, often unverified, content has become an enabler of these people's toxicity. And while, on a personal level, this can seem miserable and debilitating at first, it is something most people eventually shake off. At a global level, it can prove to be deadly. The millions in Tehran being told to evacuate their homes do not want their neighborhoods to be flattened or their friends and family to be killed — no one wants that. When, in Gaza in 2023, Khaled Nabhan held the lifeless body of his three-year-old granddaughter Reem, he did not speak of revenge or anger, just anguish, the loss of his grandchildren in an Israeli attack and, more importantly, of love.
