Marco Rubio warns countries aiding Iran’s sanctions evasion could be sanctioned

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that countries helping Iran evade American sanctions could themselves face penalties while dismissing suggestions that India and Iran were preparing a trade agreementRubio made the remarks when asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos meeting with the Iranian President and officials and reports that the two countries appeared to be moving towards a trade deal ldquoWell I donrsquot think therersquos a trade deal between India and Iranrdquo Rubio said in an interview with The Brian Kilmeade ShowHe acknowledged that countries pursued independent foreign policies and maintained contacts with Tehran Washington itself had communicated with representatives of the Iranian government he saidldquoObviously there are countries all develop their own foreign policy and many countries around the world talk to the Iranian regimerdquo Rubio said ldquoI mean wersquove met with elements of the Iranian regime as well in terms of some of these discussions that have occurred and therersquos been contact with themrdquoBut Rubio said President Donald Trump had made clear that no country should assist Tehran in bypassing sanctions or establishing channels to earn revenue ldquoI think what ultimately happens though is and the Presidentrsquos been very clear is no country should be helping Iran evade sanctionsrdquo he saidldquoNo country should be out there helping them create mechanisms by which they can generate revenue that they will then use to sponsor terrorism and try to build a nuclear weapon And if countries decide to do that then wersquore going to have to sanction them toordquoRubio said preventing Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon remained the central objective of the Trump administration ldquoIran will never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon certainly not as long as President Trump is in officerdquo he saidThe Secretary of State said Washingtonrsquos primary means of pressuring Tehran remained economic but it reserved the right to use military force when it considered such action necessaryldquoAs long as they continue to endeavour or claim to want one theyrsquore going to pay a price for it and that price is going to be primarily economicrdquo Rubio said ldquoBut we reserve the right as we said to take military action when necessary not just to protect ourselves but to prevent them from being able to threaten others as wellrdquoRubio also accused Tehran of using its financial resources to support armed groups rather than improve the lives of Iranians ldquoThey want money for two things to sponsor terrorism and ultimately to have a nuclear weaponrdquo he said ldquoAnd we canrsquot allow that to happenrdquoOn the Strait of Hormuz Rubio said Iran had continued firing at commercial ships while the United States had destroyed mines placed in the strategic waterway ldquoSo we will continue to target those things that pose an imminent threat to our forces and to global shipping in the straitsrdquo he said ldquoThe straits will remain open and they will not be under Iranian controlrdquoIndia and Iran have longstanding diplomatic and commercial relations India has also been involved in developing Iranrsquos Chabahar port which gives it a trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia without passing through PakistanThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever