Rubio warns Hormuz tolls would 'spread like contagion' to other waterways

Published June 25, 2026 Updated June 25, 2026 01:34pm

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warns that Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would spread to other waterways, risking “total chaos”, AFP reports.

“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,” he has said at a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.

“If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion. “

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