US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hinted that the world could receive “good news” within hours regarding a possible peace deal with Iran. Speaking during his India visit alongside External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Rubio said negotiations are progressing and could help ease tensions in the Strait of Hormuz after the recent US-Israel confrontation with Tehran. President Donald Trump earlier claimed the agreement had been “largely negotiated” as Washington pushes to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
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#IranPeaceDeal #MarcoRubio #TrumpIranDeal #USIranTalks #IranNuclearIssue #StraitOfHormuz #IranNews #USForeignPolicy #DonaldTrump #MiddleEastTensions #IndiaUSRelations #RubioIndiaVisit #BreakingNews #USIranCrisis #HormuzCrisis #NuclearTalks #WorldNews
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00:00I'll take that very seriously about the comments. Look, I'm sure that there are people
00:03that have made comments online and other places because every country in the world has stupid
00:08people. I'm sure there are stupid people here. There are stupid people in the United States
00:12that make dumb comments all the time. I don't know what else to tell you other than the United
00:18States is a very welcoming country. Our nation has been enriched by people who come to our
00:22country, have come from our country from all over the world, have become Americans, have
00:26assimilated into our way of life and have contributed greatly. So that's all I can comment on that
00:32in regards to your point. Your second question, there's another question about technology
00:36cooperation. Absolutely. One of the reasons why we're such strong strategic allies is because
00:41India is a place that's very advanced technologically. You have companies that are on the leading
00:45edge of technology in a variety of fields and you happen to be our ally in terms of country
00:51to country. So it is an area of tremendous partnership. It speaks directly to the point
00:54that I made a moment ago, and that is you can have an alliance with countries and we have,
00:59you know, we work with countries all over the world on a variety of issues, but there are only a
01:03handful
01:03of countries in the world where you can actually partner to influence global outcomes. And so India is
01:09one of those countries, which adds, which is the reason why our strategic alliance is so critical
01:13is between, it's a strategic alliance between two highly capable partners who have industries within
01:20our country, private industries within our company, within our countries that are on the leading edge
01:25of some of the top technologies of the 21st century. So it makes all the sense in the world
01:30to democracies with a lot of pre-existing links with companies that are on the leading edge of
01:35cutting edge 21st century technologies partnering together to make sure that those technologies are
01:41not just developing and continuing to lead the world in innovation, but are doing so in a way that
01:45furthers our national interest. So that, that is on that point on the, uh, on the, uh, Iran situation,
01:55there'll be, I believe, you know, maybe more news coming out a little bit later today on this topic,
02:00and I'll leave it to the president to make further announcements on it. Suffice it to say that some
02:04progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress has been made.
02:09Ultimately here's, I remind everybody, I think this ties into the second question that was asked with
02:14relations to it. What is the goal here? The goal here, ultimately, the ultimate goal is that Iran
02:19can never have a nuclear weapon. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. The president has been
02:24clear about that. They will never possess a nuclear weapon, certainly not as long as Donald Trump is
02:28president of the United States. Related to that is this issue of the, of the straits. Okay. This is
02:34an international waterway. What we're, they don't own it. It's an international waterway. And what they
02:40are doing now is basically, they are threatening to destroy commercial vessels using an international
02:46waterway. That is illegal under any concept of international law that governs us. But it's also,
02:51if we allowed that to become normal, we would be normalizing an unacceptable status quo and setting
02:57a dangerous precedent that can be replicated here in this region and in multiple places around the world.
03:02So the desire the president has, his preference, is to find a diplomatic way that these problems can
03:11be solved. That's always the president's preference. He would much rather have me and the Department of
03:17State solve this problem than the Department of War having to solve this problem. But the problem is
03:21going to be solved one way or the other. So we've made some progress over the last 48 hours working
03:26with
03:26our partners in the Gulf region on an outline that could ultimately, if it succeeds, leave us not just
03:33with a completely open straits. And I mean, open straits without tolls and with addressing some of the key
03:43things that underpin what has been Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions in the past. So we think we've made
03:49some progress on the outline of something that if it works, could, could give us that outcome. Obviously that
03:55will require full Iranian acceptance and then compliance, and it will require some future
04:00work on negotiating the details. When you're talking about a nuclear program, as an example,
04:04these are highly technical matters and ones that would probably need to be addressed over some period
04:11of time on the issue of benefits that they could get from it and whatever domestic criticisms there may be.
04:17I don't think anyone's been tougher on the Iranian nuclear ambition than President Trump. Understand.
04:22Okay. Again, I'm not, I don't know what some of these individual comments have been from different
04:26sectors of our politics in the United States, but I will say this. There is no one who has been
04:31stronger on this issue than President Trump. Multiple political leaders, multiple presidents of the
04:36United States have all said the same thing. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The only one who's tried
04:40to do anything and has actually done anything about it in a real way has been President Trump. So his
04:45commitment
04:46to that principle that they'll never have a nuclear weapon shouldn't be questioned by anybody. And the idea that
04:51somehow this president, given everything he's already proven he's willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a
04:57deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd.
05:02That's just not going to happen. But our preference is to address this through a diplomatic means. And that's what
05:07we're
05:07endeavoring to do here. I think we've made some progress. I'm always cautious when I say that because you can
05:13agree to things on paper,
05:15they actually have to be implemented, you can agree to things in writing, and then you actually have to go
05:19out and do it. And
05:20but but I do think perhaps, there is the possibility that over the next few hours, the world will get
05:26some good news, at least with
05:27regards to the Straits, and through and with regards to a process that can ultimately leave us where the president
05:34wants us to be. And that is a
05:36world that no longer has to be in fear or worry about an Iranian nuclear weapon. And, and so I
05:43do think there's some
05:44good news on that front, but not final news on that front. But perhaps a little bit later today, we'll
05:49have more to say but but you know,
05:50with some progress has been made, I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to downplay that.
05:56But I also want to caveat it by saying
05:58we still have some work to do. We'll see.
06:02Okay, the first question about energy choke points and, you know, what's happening between us and the US on energy.
06:12Well, I think
06:14there's a, again, as I mentioned, there's been actually a very significant uptick in our energy imports from the United
06:21States.
06:22It's not new, you know, it started out many, many years ago, but I think it's really picked up in
06:29the last year. And
06:31where India is concerned, look, this is an era of de-risking, and probably energy more than anything else requires
06:41de-risking. So
06:52as a very significant and reliable source of energy as indeed have some other countries. So what the way we
07:01will deal with, you know, the current situation in Hormuz and frankly, going forward as well, which is to, to
07:09diversify
07:11our energy sources, because that is at the heart of our energy security. And that is why we feel strongly
07:18that the energy
07:19market should not be distorted, they should not be constrained. It is important to keep energy prices down for
07:26global growth. Regarding your question on the Iran war, in fact, it flows in a way from that answer. Sure,
07:37I mean, at this
07:38time, whether, you know, where India and the United States are concerned, we both have a very strong interest in
07:45ensuring that
07:48globally, energy prices are kept low, and that energy sources are more available. So, so, you know, look, we are
08:04both countries, obviously, each one of us has our own national interest and policies, but partnerships and relationships are built
08:13on, you know, what, what you share and what you are
08:16And clearly, in this case, safe and unimpeded commerce and predictable, affordable, accessible energy sources are two very important meeting
08:30points. Now, as to who all are involved in, you know, in the matter which Secretary Rubio addressed, I think
08:38it's for the parties to work out, it's for them.
08:41So, regarding the other question on President, you know, the Trump administration and Quad, you know, I want to remind
08:50you that the Quad actually in the current form started during President Trump's first administration.
08:57And actually, it picked up then, it has moved on and it was very interesting when I began by saying
09:03that, you know, we met on the first day of Secretary Rubio's tenure as Secretary of State, it was for
09:11a Quad meeting.
09:11And last year, we actually had two Quad meetings, we are having a third Quad foreign ministers meeting. And looking
09:21ahead, look to me, the Indo-Pacific is going to become more and more important with the passage of time.
09:30We were just talking about energy. It will even become a big energy lifeline. I mean, if you're going to
09:36see, for example, a much bigger India-US energy trade or India's energy and general trade with the US, with
09:46other countries in the Americas, I can see, you know, much more growth, much more trade, much more maritime activity
09:54out there.
09:55So, to me, you know, the work on Quad goes on. And I think two days from now, you will
10:05see us on the podium talking about the Quad. And I can assure you, we will have a good, strong
10:10story to tell.
10:12Thank you, sir. Final round of questions. We'll take two questions from each side together, and then we'll request Minister
10:18and Secretary of State to respond. Manas from this side.
10:24Secretary Rubio, after 25 years of very significant progress in India-US ties, including during President Trump's first tenure as
10:34the president, many in India feel that the relationship has lost the momentum in the last one year.
10:41Secretary Rubio, after 25 years of our issues, including tariffs, a more transactional US approach, and mixed signals on Pakistan
10:49and China. So, how do you see these views? And what is your administration doing to address these concerns about
10:59a slide in India-US relations?
11:02And to Foreign Minister Jaishankar, what are India's expectations from the Trump administration at this stage of the relationship when
11:12we are also facing the consequences of conflicts, geopolitical headwinds, especially on our energy security?
11:19Thank you, sir.
11:25Thank you for doing this. Question for Secretary Rubio. Here, Secretary Rubio.
11:31There are serious concerns in New Delhi over the U.S. administration's renewed engagement with Pakistan, and especially Pakistan's military
11:41leadership, especially when there are concerns in this region about that military leadership's links with terrorism and also with regional
11:49instability.
11:56And a question for the external affairs minister. I know you've kind of touched on this, but the Quad came
12:04together and positioned itself as a platform for coordination between four maritime democracies to work on the delivery of public
12:14goods across the Indo-Pacific.
12:15How much is this still relevant with the Trump administration?
12:19How much is this still relevant with the Trump administration?
12:20We go to the other side. Tom from BBC.
12:24Thank you very much. Tom Bateman from the BBC.
12:26Mr. Secretary, there's a lot of attention at the moment on how to end this war, but there is continued
12:31scrutiny on the way it began.
12:34Now, it was information about the whereabouts of the Supreme Leader that led to these unprecedented strikes of unprecedented scale.
12:42That was a Saturday in Iran in the morning when millions of children were at school.
12:47Now, Admiral Cooper said last week, confirmed the timeline of the investigation into the Minab school strike.
12:53There was media analysis that 22 schools at least were damaged either that day or in the following weeks.
13:00What do you say to those who will accuse the administration of unleashing a reckless action because of when this
13:08war was begun?
13:10And Mr. External Affairs Minister, given how hard the energy crisis is currently hitting your country, did you discuss with
13:18your American counterparts further sanctions waivers, particularly on Russian oil and other oil purchases?
13:28Mr. Eric.
13:35Thank you. Secretary Rubio, I'd like to ask you, there's been a lot of celebration of the role of the
13:41U.S. as the world's oldest democracy and of India as the world's largest democracy.
13:47As part of this discussion of democracy, what is your view on the continued discussion in the U.S. as
13:55to who won the 2020 U.S. election and those who continue to question the result that was certified by
14:05Congress?
14:05Is that appropriate and is it appropriate for or should all sides and democracies accept the results of elections?
14:16And Minister Jaishankar, if you could talk about specifically on the issue of energy purchases, excuse me, Secretary Rubio has
14:27referred to the U.S. desire to sell more energy to India.
14:31To India, has India made any concrete commitments regarding purchase of U.S. energy as an additional source or as
14:41India pursues increased diversification?
14:47So we can dig these questions.
14:49Okay.
14:50I'm going to start with the mates.
14:52I think I wrote them down.
14:53So.
14:55All right.
14:55On the.
14:57The U.S.-India relationship has not lost any momentum.
15:01I understand why some people might say that.
15:02I mean, I don't understand, but I understand some people say that, but I don't see it or view that
15:06in any way, shape or form.
15:08The reality of it is you have a new administration that came in.
15:10We have a.
15:11This is not about India.
15:12This is about the United States in terms of trade.
15:14Okay.
15:14This is not geared.
15:15The president did not say, let's figure out a way to create friction with India over trade.
15:20The president came in and said, we have a trade situation involving the U.S. economy that doesn't work moving
15:25forward.
15:25There's a huge imbalance that's built up and it needs to be addressed.
15:28And he pursued it from a global perspective.
15:31And so I can tell you, as Secretary of State, there virtually is no country in the world that I
15:35could travel to that isn't going to raise the issue of trade because we did this from a global perspective.
15:40The president approached it and said we have to rebalance U.S. trade.
15:43And one of the reasons why is, again, this is not about India.
15:46I'm not speaking about India.
15:47I'm speaking more globally.
15:48The United States was being deindustrialized.
15:51Okay.
15:52We pursued trade policies that left us in a place where all the means of production had been outsourced in
15:59such a way that left us vulnerable.
16:00That had to change.
16:01And it cost us jobs.
16:02It created huge displacement in our country.
16:05And that needed to be corrected.
16:06There needed to be a rebalancing of how we approach global trade, whether not just with India, with the European
16:12Union, with countries all over the world.
16:14So and obviously now the difference is India is a massive economy.
16:17This is a big economy where you're leading trade partner.
16:20We do a lot of trade with India.
16:22And so obviously, you know, there's a big difference between, you know, rebalancing trade with a country of this size
16:28and magnitude with the size and productive means of your economy versus a smaller country that maybe all they provide
16:33is agriculture, as an example.
16:34So I think it's just got caught up in that.
16:37And the good news is that through this rebalancing, we are ultimately seek and believe we will arrive at trade
16:44arrangements around the world that are good for the United States, but also good for our trade partners.
16:48And one of those we hope will be India.
16:51In fact, we are on the verge of making that happen.
16:53We are hopeful that our trade representative can visit here very soon.
16:56We had an Indian delegation in the United States, I believe, last week or the week before.
17:01We've made tremendous progress.
17:02And I think we're going to wind up with a trade agreement between the United States and India that's going
17:06to be enduring and it's going to be beneficial to both sides and sustainable in a way that addresses this
17:12national interest that we have.
17:13Beyond that, I would say that we continue to cooperate on a number of fields.
17:16As an example, when we came out with a PAC silica proposal from the State Department, one of the first
17:22countries that joined was India.
17:24When we had our ministerial on critical minerals, the foreign minister was there, one of our key partners in that
17:31regard.
17:32It goes and speaks back to the strategic value of our partnership.
17:35This is an area of strategic concern for both sides, and we are partnering with it on it.
17:41And it is an example of what we wanted to continue to build on.
17:45So, you know, in just the last few months, as I said, there's $20 billion of Indian investment in the
17:51U.S. economy, and that number continues to grow.
17:54So I think the relationship continues to be strong.
17:57And in fact, I believe by the end of this administration, it will be stronger than it's ever been.
18:03That's certainly our goal, and that's certainly what we're building towards.
18:06As far as our relations with other countries, yeah, we have relations and we work at the tactical level, for
18:12example, and in many other ways with countries all over the world.
18:14So does India. That's what responsible nation states do.
18:19But I don't view our relation with any country in the world as coming at the expense of our strategic
18:26alliance with India for the reasons I've outlined here already earlier today.
18:30On the question of the war, look, that was a long question and said a lot of things I don't
18:37agree with.
18:38And I'm not going to speak to military tactics simply because that's not my department.
18:41I will say this to you.
18:43When this conflict began with Iran, the goals were outlined and they were very simple.
18:47They were very clear.
18:48We were going to destroy their navy, which we have done.
18:51We were going to significantly reduce their ability to launch ballistic missiles because that was the conventional shield that we're
18:57trying to hide behind.
18:59And we've achieved that objective.
19:00And we were going to do damage to the defense industrial base so they couldn't rebuild all of these things.
19:05We've achieved that as well.
19:06Those are the objectives of Epic Fury.
19:08Those objectives were achieved.
19:10Those are the targets of our operation.
19:12And that's what they were targeted on.
19:14OK.
19:14On the other hand, Iran likes to sponsor proxy groups of terrorists.
19:19And these terrorists don't care what they blow up.
19:21They blow up anything and everyone.
19:23OK.
19:23This is who we're dealing with.
19:25OK.
19:25This is an Iran that not long ago, through their Hezbollah proxies, blew up a Jewish center in Argentina and
19:32killed a bunch of people.
19:33This is an Iran that innovated the use of roadside bombs that killed and maimed a bunch of people, including
19:40American servicemen, but a bunch of other people.
19:41This is an Iran that has organized the assassinations and the attempted assassinations of people all over the world, including
19:48civilians and dissidents and people they don't agree with.
19:51There is no nation on Earth that sponsors more terrorism than Iran.
19:55And they've spent millions and millions of dollars sponsoring terrorism and targeting individuals all over the world, including civilians, have
20:03been caught up in that.
20:05OK.
20:05That's what Iran has done.
20:06They didn't spend their millions and millions on building roads and bridges and improving the life of their people.
20:10That's why their people are always in the street protesting, because their economy has been in shambles, because they don't
20:16invest in their economy.
20:17They would rather invest in Hezbollah.
20:18They would rather invest in the rapists and the murderers of Hamas.
20:22They would rather invest in those groups than they do in their own people.
20:26That's what Iran invests in.
20:27And that's what the world, that's what you should be asking me about.
20:29That's what the BBC should be covering.
20:31And that's what these other media outlets should be covering, is how evil these people are in Iran and the
20:36damage they've done to people all over the world.
20:38The world's leading sponsor of terrorism is Iran.
20:42And look what they're doing now.
20:44They are holding hostage civilian vessels, including ships that have now been stuck in the Persian Gulf.
20:51They've laid mines in an international waterway.
20:54And yet, despite all of that, the United States remains committed to finding a peaceful, a diplomatic solution to this
21:00crisis.
21:00But let's be clear who we're talking about here.
21:03We're not talking about some pacifist government over there or some pacifist regime.
21:08We're talking about one of the most vicious regimes on the face of the earth and in modern history.
21:12That's what we're dealing with.
21:13And we were going to take away their missiles.
21:15We were going to take away their ability to make new ones.
21:18And we were going to wipe out their navy.
21:19Imagine if they had a real navy.
21:21What they have now is a bunch of small little speed boats that can lay mines and harass vessels.
21:25But they used to have a navy.
21:27Now that navy resides at the bottom of the ocean.
21:29And that was the objective of Epic Fury.
21:32As far as the question about democracy, I don't know.
21:35I mean, democracy, every country that has a democracy has elections.
21:40And in every, I've been involved, I've seen elections in the United States where Democrats, you know, I remember the
21:44lady from Georgia who lost her election in Georgia and said it was stolen from her.
21:48The bottom line is you have elections and elections are conducted on the basis of rules and so forth.
21:53And sometimes those rules are not followed.
21:55Sometimes those rules are not adhered to.
21:57Sometimes those rules are played around with.
21:58Right now, Democrats are complaining about a redistricting process in the United States.
22:03But we're going to have elections in 2026.
22:05You guys cover it all the time.
22:06They're called the midterms.
22:07We're going to have elections in 2028.
22:09I was elected in elections when I was an elected leader.
22:12So at the end of the day, yeah, the democracies, as I said, you know, rely on elections.
22:18Elections rely on rules.
22:19Those rules have to be followed.
22:21But at the end of the day, these are enduring democracies.
22:23I can tell you this.
22:24The leaders that are in the United States right now, President Trump was elected.
22:28He was elected with an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College.
22:33He was elected by winning the seven, not five, but the seven key swing states.
22:38He was elected in 2024 to carry out a mandate.
22:41And he responds to the American people as a result of it.
22:44And our leaders in Congress are the same.
22:46They have to answer to their voters.
22:47And that's the key.
22:49That's the key.
22:49And I talked about it before.
22:51The largest democracy in the world and the oldest democracy in the world are leaders.
22:55When we make decisions on the global stage, we have to go back and justify it to the American
23:00people.
23:00They have to go back and justify it to their voters here in India.
23:03We are responsible and accountable to the people.
23:06And they always say the same thing.
23:08They want to know why what you are doing on the global stage is good for the people of
23:12your country.
23:13And that's why I think it's important that there be strategic alliances with the largest
23:16democracy in the world and the oldest democracy in the world, because we are two countries that
23:21have to make decisions that are in the national interest because our voters demand it, but also
23:25that are in our mutual interest.
23:26And that's why this relationship is so valuable.
23:31Sir, thank you.
23:33Well, I have one question on expectations from the Trump administration, three questions on
23:40energy, which sort of overlap, and one question on the quads.
23:44So I'll take them in that order.
23:46I think, look, where the United States is concerned, the Trump administration has been
23:53very forthright in putting forward its foreign policy outlook as America first.
24:00Now, where we are concerned, we have a view of India first.
24:04So both of us are obviously driven by our respective national interests.
24:10There will be many areas where our national interests are in harmony and we work together,
24:18which is why we have a strategic partnership.
24:20There could be some where they don't, in which case we have to manage those situations.
24:27Where the energy issues are concerned, again, look, I want to say for our energy security,
24:36it's important we have multiple sources, large sources, dependable sources, cheap sources.
24:44So, and the United States, because that was the first question, fits the bill in many respects.
24:53So do some other countries.
24:55So we will continue to diversify and maintain multiple sources of supply at the most reasonable cost,
25:04because at the end of the day, we have an obligation to our people to provide them energy at affordable
25:10and accessible rates.
25:13Now, what we don't want to see, we don't want to see energy markets distorted.
25:18We don't want to see energy markets constricted because it has a cost implication.
25:24So the question which was asked, did we discuss that? Yes, we discussed that.
25:29And, you know, I certainly expressed the Indian point of view that, you know, we strongly believe that energy markets
25:37should be left, you know, to the market.
25:42Where the Quad is concerned, you know, I'm glad you used the word maritime democracies, because both terms, I think,
25:55are very relevant.
25:57We will, we are doing a lot with each other because we are maritime powers, and I see that growing.
26:04And we are doing a lot with each other because we are democratic powers, who have a certain way of
26:11doing things, who have a certain belief system, who have certain practices.
26:16We have, we are market economies, we are open societies, we want business to be conducted and life to run
26:24on the basis of international law and, you know, market practices.
26:31So for us, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, which as I've already stated, I see as gaining importance in salience
26:40in the coming days.
26:41It's very important that the Quad cooperation as maritime democracies continue.
26:47And that is exactly what you will see two days from now. Thank you.
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