US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sharply accused Iran of turning the Strait of Hormuz into an “economic nuclear weapon” against the world, as the naval chokepoint remains at the centre of the US–Iran war and failed peace negotiations. Speaking in a high‑profile TV interview, Rubio said that Iran’s blockade of the strait, a key artery for global oil and gas shipments from the Persian Gulf, is being used as a lever of mass‑scale economic pressure—just as the US continues to demand the end of Tehran’s nuclear‑weapons‑related activities.
Rubio framed the crisis in alarmist terms, warning that if Iranian leaders were ever to actually acquire a nuclear weapon, they would be in a position to “take the whole region hostage,” just as they now seek to leverage the Strait of Hormuz to extract concessions. He reiterated that halting Iran’s nuclear‑weapons ambitions remains the core US red line, and dismissed any proposed deal that would delay talks on the nuclear program while reopening the strait or ending hostilities.
Iran, meanwhile, has reportedly offered a phased plan: immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a cessation of the war, with the more sensitive nuclear issues to be addressed in a later stage of diplomacy. Washington views this as an attempt to buy time amid domestic economic strain and internal unrest, while still preserving its strategic deterrent. The US has also tightened its own blockade on Iranian ports, intercepted sanctioned oil tankers, and stepped up military overflights, further escalating a tense standoff in the Gulf.
For the global economy, the standoff underlines how a single narrow channel can act almost like a macro‑economic trigger, with even partial disruptions pushing oil and gas prices higher and unsettling energy‑importing nations from Europe to Asia. As Rubio put it, the Strait of Hormuz may not be a literal nuclear device, but its capacity to “take the world hostage” through controlled chokes on oil and shipping makes it an “economic nuclear weapon,” the very symbol of power—and peril—in the modern Middle East.
