Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” United Nations Ambassador Michael Waltz said Iran would not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz.
Partial transcript as follows:
RADDATZ: There has been some talk that the Iranians will try to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Is that acceptable? And will that happen even with a third country helping out to gather those tolls?
WALTZ: It’s not acceptable, and it’s completely unacceptable and frankly illegal in international law behavior. For example, Morocco and Spain, as a hypothetical, can’t start charging tolls in the Straits of Gibraltar because they have a conflict or a dispute. That’s clear in the U.N. law of the sea. It’s clear in multiple resolutions that we just passed with a record number of countries supporting it, reinforcing that. It’s completely unacceptable. And frankly, even the Chinese, Martha, during the summit with Xi and President Trump and in multiple calls since have made it clear to the Iranians, it’s unacceptable behavior. So that is a key, key piece. And finally, we can’t forget Secretary Bessent and Operation Economic Fury, I would argue in many ways, this is the thing the Iranians fear the most because it is affecting their internal stability. Their currency is tanking. Their foreign reserves are gone. They’re unable to pay portions of the military and the civil service. this is why you see them coming to the table.
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