US urges China to keep Iran from shutting key trade route

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged China Sunday to help deter Iran from shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial trade route, following American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that because they heavily depend on the Strait of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio said on Fox News.

Analysts have said Iran may opt to retaliate to Washington’s early Sunday attack by shutting the Strait, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.

“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it, and we retain options to deal with that,” Rubio added.

“But other countries should be looking at that as well, it would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours. It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response. Not just by us but from others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iran has threatened bases used by the US military, with an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying they will be considered a “legitimate target for our armed forces.”

However, it remains to be seen whether the US strikes will push Tehran to de-escalate the conflict or to widen it further.

China has joined Russia and Arab states in condemning the US attacks, saying that they “escalate tensions in the Middle East.”