US secretary of state Marco Rubio has hailed “good signs” emerging from peace talks between Washington and Tehran, as the search for an elusive deal continues.
“There’s some good signs,” Mr Rubio told reporters. “I don’t want to be overly optimistic… So, let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
A senior Iranian source said no deal has been reached but the gaps in positions between the two sides has narrowed.
Iran’s uranium enrichment and Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz remain among the sticking points, the source told Reuters news agency.
Mr Rubio warned that Iran’s desire to impose a toll on ships passing through the strait was acting as a blockade to a potential peace agreement.
“No one in the world is in favour of the tolling system. It can’t happen. It would be unacceptable,” he said.
“It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So it’s a threat to the world if they were trying to do that, and it’s completely illegal.”
Meanwhile, fresh US intelligence has found that Iran is rebuilding its military industrial base much faster than expected, US sources told CNN.
‘It would be unnacceptable’: Rubio on Iranian proposals for a toll system in Strait of Hormuz
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Iranian attempts to collect tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz were blocking a potential peace deal.
“No one in the world is in favor of the tolling system. It can’t happen. It would be unacceptable. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So it’s a threat to the world if they were trying to do that, and it’s completely illegal,” Rubio told reporters.
He also told reporters there had been some progress in talks with Tehran to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, but that Washington was dealing with “a system that itself is a little fractured.”
“There’s some good signs,” the secretary of state said. “I don’t want to be overly optimistic… So, let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
Shweta Sharma22 May 2026 04:10
Briefing: What is the latest on the US-Israel war on Iran
• US-Iran talks showed “some good signs,” according to secretary of state Marco Rubio, but major disagreements remain over Tehran’s uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz. “There’s some good signs,” Rubio said. “I don’t want to be overly optimistic … So, let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
• President Donald Trump said the US would eventually seize and likely destroy Iran’s highly enriched uranium, insisting Washington will not allow Tehran to retain it. “We want it open, we want it free. We don’t want tolls,” he said. “It’s an international waterway.”
• Iranian officials said that no deal has been reached yet, though negotiation gaps have narrowed.
• Trump also warned he is prepared to resume strikes on Iran if talks fail, while criticising any attempt by Tehran to impose fees on the strategic global shipping route.
Shweta Sharma22 May 2026 04:03