Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17824310511911782431048935.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"></span></span></span></div><p>People wave Iran&#x27;s national flags during an anti-US and Israel protest in Tehran on May 29, 2026. AFP</p><div><br/></div><div></div><p>Washington&#x27;s top diplomat said Thursday there are limits to what it would accept in any Iran deal, as an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz led the UN to suspend an effort to evacuate trapped mariners.</p><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- in Bahrain as part of a regional tour to reassure Gulf partners hit hard by the Middle East war -- also dismissed the idea of allowing Tehran to charge fees in the strait, saying it would open the door to &quot;total chaos&quot;.</p><p>The United States and Iran have signed a <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/22/iran-us-talks-to-continue-through-the-night-in-switzerland-0858">preliminary deal to end the conflict </a>launched by the United States and Israel in late February, embarking on negotiations expected to address Tehran&#x27;s nuclear program, sanctions relief and global energy flows through the strait, where Iran has repeatedly targeted civilian vessels.</p><p>But Gulf countries and Israel also have longstanding concerns about Iran&#x27;s support for proxies in the region and its missile program, and it remains unclear whether those topics will be handled in the talks.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/23/us-suspends-iran-oil-sanctions-says-nuclear-inspectors-to-return-0829">US suspends Iran oil sanctions, says nuclear inspectors to return </a></div><p>After meeting with Rubio on Thursday, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council emphasized that &quot;lasting regional peace and security requires addressing the full spectrum of Iran&#x27;s threats, including its ballistic missiles, drones and support of proxies&quot;.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ATTACK ON CARGO SHIP</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Earlier, Rubio acknowledged that while the United States wants &quot;a deal, we don&#x27;t want a deal at any price&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We want to ensure... that there is no part of this deal that&#x27;s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,&quot; he said.</p><p>Rubio also sought to reassure the energy-rich Gulf states that the Strait of Hormuz, which they have relied on for decades to export oil and liquefied natural gas, would remain toll-free.</p><p>Iran imposed a blockade of the strait during the war, sparking a global economic shock, and has since said it plans to introduce what it terms maritime service fees, with the Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warning that <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/6/25/iran-warns-against-hormuz-crossings-without-authorization-1539">any unauthorized crossings would be &quot;dealt with&quot;.</a></p><p>Oman had released a map on Wednesday of a new temporary shipping route running close to its coast. It said the path through the strait was coordinated with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a UN agency responsible for marine safety.</p><p>Iran later appeared to denounce the new corridor in a statement by the Revolutionary Guards, but did not refer to Oman specifically.</p><p>The British maritime security agency UKMTO said Thursday that a cargo ship in the strait was &quot;hit on the starboard side by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the bridge&quot;, but reporting no casualties.</p><p>It said the incident occurred just 14 kilometers off Oman&#x27;s coast.</p><p>The secretary general of the IMO, Arsenio Dominguez, then announced the suspension of efforts to evacuate the 600 ships and their crews that were trapped by the war.</p><p>&quot;I have decided to temporarily pause (the evacuation plan&#x27;s) implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region,&quot; Dominguez said in a statement.</p><p>The vessel that was hit on Thursday was not travelling under the IMO&#x27;s evacuation framework, which began on Tuesday evening, Dominguez said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;UNRESTRICTED NAVIGATION&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The United States and its allies have flatly rejected the introduction of fees or tolls, with Rubio reiterating Washington&#x27;s position that the Strait of Hormuz should be considered an international waterway and therefore not subject to charges.</p><p>&quot;International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Gulf ministers, in their joint statement, also insisted that &quot;free, unconditional and unrestricted navigation&quot; of the strait was essential to the region.</p><p>The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow stretch of water between Iran and Oman that leads to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, making it a chokepoint for crucial energy shipments out of the Gulf.</p><p>At Thursday&#x27;s Gulf meeting with Rubio, Oman&#x27;s top diplomat Badr Albusaidi said plans for Hormuz &quot;do not entail the imposition of any transit fees&quot; -- despite his government and Iran saying Tuesday that they were studying costs to be charged for services provided in the strait.</p><p>The memorandum of understanding signed last week by Tehran and Washington stipulated that commercial ships may transit the strait free of charge for the next 60 days.</p><p>It is unclear what arrangements will be in place after that period.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/6/25/iran-warns-against-hormuz-crossings-without-authorization-1539">Iran warns against Hormuz crossings without authorization </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/18/what-happens-when-the-strait-of-hormuz-re-opens-0035">What happens when the Strait of Hormuz re-opens? </a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tgjQuOV7OT0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Washington's top diplomat said Thursday there are limits to what it would accept in any Iran deal, as an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz led the UN to suspend an effort to evacuate trapped mariners.</p>

Washington's top diplomat said Thursday there are limits to what it would accept in any Iran deal, as an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz led the UN to suspend an effort to evacuate trapped mariners.

US says wants deal with Iran, but not 'at any price'

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US says wants deal with Iran, but not 'at any price'

Agence France-Presse

Published June 26, 2026 07:05 AM PHT

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Updated June 26, 2026 07:44 AM PHT

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