MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stark warning Wednesday that Iran’s ambitions to take control of the Strait of Hormuz — and charge fees to ships passing through — could upend the global economy and undermine freedom of navigation rights that extend well beyond the Middle East.
Rubio delivered the message at the opening session of an annual gathering in the Philippine capital with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ASEAN ministers have voiced growing concern over the renewed conflict in the Middle East and its ripple effects across their region. Despite Washington’s deep involvement in that conflict, Rubio pledged the United States remains fully committed to the partnership, saying, “we’re with ASEAN 100%.”
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” Rubio said.
Rubio also took part in a meeting of the four-nation Quad partnership, which includes the United States, Australia, India, and Japan. The group discussed shared goals involving technology, humanitarian aid, emergency response, and security both at sea and across borders.
The Quad nations released a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to maritime security efforts aimed at countering China’s expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific. “We are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region,” the statement read.
Rubio followed up on social media platform X, writing that “The Quad remains a priority, and we will meet again later this year.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly pushed back against what it describes as increasingly aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea, which have put smaller nations with competing territorial claims — including the Philippines, Washington’s longest-standing treaty ally in Asia — at a disadvantage.
Those territorial disputes, which also touch on Taiwan and ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, are among the top issues on the table during three days of talks that got underway Tuesday in Manila.
Later in the day, Rubio sat down with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. According to a U.S. State Department spokesperson, the two discussed both regional concerns and the ongoing Iran conflict, as well as a trade agreement still being finalized that would reduce U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from India.
“The Secretary and Minister Jaishankar agreed on the importance of finalizing the interim trade deal, which is almost complete,” said spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Rubio was also set to hold a separate meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the conference, which is being held at a heavily secured convention facility near Manila Bay.
