Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press on July 19

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, we’re on the ninth – the ninth day straight of strikes now with Iran. Iran is launching these strikes. Are we back at square one, and what is the objective of these latest strikes? SECRETARY RUBIO: I think CENTCOM has laid it out exactly what the objectives are. The only reason why the U.S. is conducting strikes is against assets of Iran that are being used to attack global commercial shipping. The Straits of Hormuz are an international waterway, and they continue to launch against ships in that international waterway. Other countries should join us in this effort, but the United States is involved not just in protecting those ships but in targeting the places that they use to launch these missiles and drones. So that’s what you’re seeing. That’s what the objective of this mission is. That’s what it continues to be. And we continue on a daily basis very successfully to degrade Iran’s ability to target (inaudible) ships. You hear about the ships that have been struck. You don’t hear about the ones that have been defended and the ones they haven’t been able to launch against. QUESTION: Is the MOU dead, or are we just back in full-scale war? SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, they’re not complying with it. I mean, the straits are supposed to be open – free of tolls, free of attacks, free of all the things they’re doing against these ships. So they’re – you can’t have an MOU that’s alive if they’re violating the terms of it. What I will say is that the United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution, and we’ve tried multiple times with Iran, and we’ll continue to try. If that door opens, we’ll be happy to see it open. But right – and they continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we’re responding to. And their behavior is they’re launching missiles and drones at ships, including tonight. QUESTION: What recent signals have you heard from the Iranians that they want to negotiate? SECRETARY RUBIO: Directly and through multiple channels with other countries as well. They continue to send signals that way. But like, I also think it’s pretty growingly apparent, it’s growing apparent, that even within their own system there’s a growing split – I think maybe some of (inaudible) have documented this – between those that understand that their economy is in shambles and they need to do something or they’re going to be in a lot of trouble very soon economically and domestically, and others who are very militant in their view of life and in their view of the world and continue to launch missiles. So they’ll have to work out that split internally. We’re going to continue to respond. If the door opens to diplomacy, if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system or take control of the negotiations, that’ll be a very positive development. That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you give us an update on Venezuela, and in terms of the rebuilding and reconstruction effort in Venezuela following the earthquake? SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. QUESTION: What’s the U.S.’s commitment to Venezuela at this point given — SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, it’s already upwards of $180 million and we’re looking – we’ll do more. The Venezuelans will do more. I think we’re trying to help them get access to global funding and credit as well for their rebuilding. They’re still working through an estimate on the total cost, and it’ll be substantial – both removal of the debris and building new things. By the same token, very good news last week. I thought it was a little bit under-reported, to be frank. And that is that a group representing the 2015 national assembly, the last democratically elected national assembly, the group that we recognized as the legitimate government of Venezuela, had a meeting with the interim government, and they have agreed to set up a format and a forum not just for reconciliation talks but to begin the transition process, which is what the people of Venezuela need. I think their first official talks will begin the first week of August. I thought that was a very powerful offer. And obviously, we’ll see where it goes, but we think that that agreement was broadly met in Venezuela as very good news, and obviously something we’re going to be very engaged in. QUESTION: And what was your reaction to the President saying he wanted to charge a 20 percent toll on cargo going through the — SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, but I think what the President was implying, what the President was saying basically, is that the United States, okay, every night is taking on the burden of protecting global shipping. Virtually none of those vessels are flagged U.S. Almost none of those vessels are delivering cargo or fuel to the United States. So we are basically providing the service of protecting these ships on behalf of the world, and we’re the only ones doing anything about it. So what the President is basically raising the point is, at some point, the countries and the nations benefitting from shipping through the straits should be able to step forward and provide at least financial assistance to the cost of providing this very valuable service. That’s what the President was alluding to. Now, he pointed out after the fact as well that some of the countries who are shipping products through the straits are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States, and he’ll credit that, for example, as far as investments. But I do think the world is coming to a point now where it’s clear that Iran – at least some people in Iran – want to control the strait and hold that as leverage against the world. And the world has to decide whether or not it’s going to allow an international waterway to be under the control of a country like this. It’s completely illegal, unlawful, and unacceptable. The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to do to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide – whether it’s hardware or finances to help carry that burden. It is not the United States’ job to protect shipping for the entire planet forever. QUESTION: Can you tell us about your meeting with the Lebanese president today? SECRETARY RUBIO: Very positive this morning. I think, as I said, the future of Lebanon, the best thing that could happen to Lebanon, is to have a government, a legitimate government, his government, that controls the country. The biggest problem Lebanon has is that you have a political movement that also has an armed militia that is not just well armed and trained and equipped and financed by Iran, but they use that to conduct terrorism, particularly against northern Israel. And as long as that problem exists, Lebanon will never fully be at peace. And so how do you defeat Hizballah? How do you replace Hizballah? You defeat and replace them with a government that is strong enough to be the sole force of arms in the country, basically with the security of Lebanon in the hands of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and a government that’s able to provide prosperity for its citizens. So we talked about the opportunities to do that. This is not just about miliary stuff. This is about how can we attract more U.S. and international investment into Lebanon. This is about things like how can we restart direct flights between the United States and Lebanon that are – right now, you can’t do that. So we’re going to start a process with them and see if that’s possible and when that can be done. So we had a good meeting, and I think he’ll leave on Tuesday. He’ll have a very positive meeting with President Trump. And I think President Aoun will be able to return to Lebanon and say to the people of Lebanon that he is the one that’s getting positive results for the people – all Lebanese, including Christians, Sunni, and Shia, and Bedouin and Druze – all the people of a very diverse country – not Hizballah, not Iran. He is the legitimate government, he is who we’re going to work with, and that government is the government that should be in charge of that country. QUESTION: If the factions in Iran that are working for diplomacy, if they don’t win out, what next? What happens? And do you have a message for — SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I don’t think it’ll be good for Iran. I mean, Iran’s economy is in shambles, right? Three hundred percent inflation, particularly on life-sustaining goods. They have dwindling revenues to meet even their own payroll. They have food shortages. They have a drought, which we didn’t cause. But they have a gasoline shortage and a fuel shortage. All these problems existed before all this began. They’ve just gotten worse. They will continue to get worse. And one of the reasons why Iran is in shambles – this is a rich country. Iran is a rich country. One of the reasons why Iran is in shambles is because every penny that this regime there gets, be it in sanctions relief or through the oil they’re able to get out, they invest it in Hizballah, they invest it in Hamas. They spent billions of dollars supporting militias in Iraq, Hizballah, and Hamas. They’re not – they should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of Iran. They should be spending on things like building their country. But instead they use it to sponsor terrorism. So I think there’s a growing awareness of that inside of Iran, and I think there’s even a growing awareness of that amongst some of the people in their government. In fact, we have heard that from some of the people in their government. But obviously, there’s a tension there and we’ll see how that plays out. I can’t tell you how it’s going to play out. It’s up to them. QUESTION: Any message on the fallen troops, sir? The fallen troops? SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, yeah. Look, obviously, I think sometimes when you look at this stuff we forget, we take for granted, that our military is so effective, but the mission they carry out is very, very dangerous. And so we lost people in Jordan after there was a strike. A missile got through. We shot down almost all the missiles. One leaked through, hit the wrong place, and tragically, and it’s heartbreaking. And our hearts go out to the families of the heroes that paid the ultimate price. We also lost a service member in Iraq unrelated to combat. They were decommissioning ammunition and an accident happened in that process and they were harmed. But look, our military all over the world, especially in that part of the world but all over the world every single day, do very dangerous things. We’ve had people who have lost their lives in training. Nothing the military does is safe. It’s all inherently dangerous. And we’re just grateful to have such heroic Americans in uniform in service of our country. And obviously, it goes without saying that we’re praying for their families and praying for their souls. We are grateful that we have people like that serving us, both those who we have lost and those who at this very moment are on the watch defending our interests around the world.