Rubio doubts Iran is serious about making a peace deal

The United States will continue exerting pressure on Iran until Tehran agrees to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions and complies with any agreement it enters into, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio said Iran has repeatedly sent messages through third countries expressing its desire to resume negotiations with Washington.

However, he accused Tehran of breaking agreements or seeking to change their terms after they had already been concluded.

“I just don't think they're serious about making a deal, these guys. I mean, the more the President's gotten to know them, the more he's come to that realization,” Rubio told GMA News and U.S. Traveling journalists at the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila.

“These guys, the problem with them is you can't make a deal with people unless they're going to keep it. And these people make deals, and then they break it almost immediately. Or they decide, ‘Oh, let's change the deal.’ That's not how deals work,” he added.

Rubio claimed that Iran has violated a memorandum of understanding only days after it took effect, while the United States fulfilled its obligations.

“I mean, they violated the MOU within days of it being implemented. We kept our end of it. So now they're paying the price for it. And maybe they'll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses,” he said.

Rubio said Iran would continue to face increasingly severe consequences until its leaders showed that they were prepared to honor an agreement.

“The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people that are in charge there, they either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they're not ready to make a deal. So they're going to continue to pay a price. And every night the price gets higher and higher and higher,” he said.

Nuclear weapon

Rubio stressed that Washington’s primary objective is the denuclearization of Iran, not a change in its government.

“The US is seeking a denuclearized Iran that will never have a nuclear weapon... Our number one interest and the threat they pose to the world is these lunatics in possession of a nuclear weapon. And that's not going to happen, not as long as Donald Trump is President,” Rubio said.

Apart from the West Philippine Sea and other regional security issues, Rubio spent a significant part of his discussions with ASEAN ministers explaining why the United States and Iran have failed to reach an agreement to end their conflict.

The continuing hostilities have affected countries beyond the Middle East, particularly through rising oil prices that could also burden Filipino consumers. —VAL, GMA News