Ships transit the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP)
Iran has "lost complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, adding that Tehran's economy was "in total and complete freefall", AFP reported.
"The Straits of Hormuz are open. There's almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So they've lost complete control of the Straits," Rubio told reporters during a visit to Athens.
He argued that as a result of "crippling" sanctions, the Iranian economy was "about to reach a place few countries in the world have been." Every dollar received by the "radical Shia clerics" is spent on Hezbollah and Hamas, he said.
"Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story," Rubio said. "And anything they agree to that would be acceptable to the United States has to be something that ensures that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon." He argued that what Iran "was trying to do was build up a conventional capability so massive that they would become untouchable."
Iran and the U.S. have exchanged proposals in recent weeks aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy shipping route. Trump rejected Tehran's latest offer and has warned that military operations could intensify after the midterms.