Marco Rubio

And that's being addressed in the negotiation.

I'm not going to go further on what progress has been made on that topic, because I don't want to endanger the negotiations.

But suffice it to say that the president and this entire team is aware of the centrality of that question.

And that will have to be addressed one way or the other.

The actor that enables Iran sanctions evasion is going to face secondary sanctions exposure and a loss of access to the US financial system.

As President Trump has said and the facts clearly bear out, the United States of America holds all the cards.

There is no scenario here in which if they decide to join a ladder of escalation, they wind up getting the last say.

But our preference

is for these straits to be opened to the way they're supposed to be opened, back to the way it was.

Anyone can use it.

No mines in the water.

Nobody paying tolls.

That's what we have to get back to, and that's the goal here.

Every day the conflict continues, however.

Our leverage on Iran will continue to increase, and their position will continue to weaken, especially as the blockade really begins.

A favor to the world.

And it could impact the foreign policy.

It could have some domestic ramifications.

But ultimately, I don't want to mislead you.

The primary responsibility for this Project Freedom is on the United States because we're the only country that can project power in that part of the world the way we're doing now.