Rubio says Iran ‘begging’ for a deal with US but not ready to make one
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x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the news media on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Pasay, Metro Manila [Brendan Smialowski/AFP] By Heba Habib Published On 23 Jul 2026 23 Jul 2026 United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran is privately pressing Washington for a deal to end the war but Tehran is not yet “ready” to accept one,
Adding to this, “Iran is begging us, both directly and indirectly, ‘Let’s do a deal. Let’s talk,'” Rubio shared, in conversation with reporters on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting of foreign ministers in Manila, Philippines, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, “The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people in charge either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they’re not ready to make a deal, so they’re going to continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher and higher.”
Notably, Rubio described Iran as “a country run by radical clerics”, calling them “oblivious” to its economic problems.
As per the latest buzz, “Iran can be the richest country in the Middle East if they wanted to be. But instead, they take their money, and they use it and they give it to Hezbollah. They give it to Hamas. They give it to the Houthis. They give it to Shia militias. They give it to sponsored terrorism all over the world,” he shared, referring to Tehran-aligned or -supported groups in the region.
In further updates, Asked about Iranian officials who have described their military policy with the US as “an eye for an eye”, Rubio shared US President Donald Trump’s approach was “a head for an eye”.
On top of that, Iran “will pay a very heavy price for the things they are doing. They are already paying a heavy price,” he shared, claiming Iran’s industrial infrastructure was being “decimated”, resulting in “billions” of dollars in damage.
Washington’s central objective, Rubio shared, remained a denuclearised Iran. “Our number one interest and the threat they pose to the world is these lunatics in possession of a nuclear weapon , and that’s not going to happen,” he shared.
Source: Al Jazeera