Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz after the United States attacked three of the country’s nuclear facilities on Saturday.
Rubio claimed that while the U.S. would be affected, the impact would be greater on the rest of the world, most notably China.
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“It would be a suicidal move on their part because the whole world would come against them if they did that,” Rubio said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.
The strait, which is about 100 miles long and 21 miles wide, is shared between Iran and Oman and connects the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It handles about a quarter of the world’s oil trade, and disruptions in the supply chain there would likely increase oil prices globally.
Rubio said a move to close the strait would escalate tensions and prompt a response from the U.S., saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
The secretary of state also called on China to encourage Iran not to shut down the passage.
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“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.
“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it,” he added. “And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”