Rubio: Iran openly announces its targeting of commercial ships and the world must condemn it

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attacked the Iranian regime in a television interview on Tuesday.

“We have a country that is publicly and loudly declaring that it is targeting commercial ships,” Rubio said. “We haven’t seen anything like this since World War II.”

He added: "They are following the methods of Nazi submarines. This is what the world must come together to condemn."

Rubio spoke about the file of negotiations with the Iranians and said: “It is difficult to reach an agreement with the Iranian regime... Unfortunately, they are not good at negotiating, and they are under the control of extremist Shiite clerics.”

He added, "They are driven by religion. It is very difficult to reach an agreement with them."

Iranian media reported that Tehran informed Pakistani Army Commander Asim Munir on Tuesday that there would be no talks with Washington until its demands were met, in a hardening of its position despite mediation efforts made by Islamabad.

Iranian Nour News Agency said that President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and developments in the region during a meeting in Tehran with Mounir.

Pakistan is a major mediator between the United States and Iran. Its previous mediation efforts led to the signing of an interim peace agreement in June, but the “Islamabad Memorandum” quickly faltered as fighting renewed between Iran and the United States a few weeks after its signing.

Mounir also met with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. An Iranian statement regarding the meeting indicated that the Iranian official confirmed that Washington will not be able to gain Tehran’s trust unless it meets the seven conditions it put forward last month to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio is currently visiting India, where he held discussions with his Indian counterpart, Subramaniam Jaishankar, in Mumbai, as the two countries seek to enhance cooperation in the field of energy and move towards reaching a final formula for a trade agreement.