“And if countries decide to do that, then we’re going to have to sanction them too,” Rubio said.
A day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that no country should help Iran evade sanctions.
“And if countries decide to do that, then we’re going to have to sanction them too,” Rubio said.
In an interview on The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio, Rubio was asked about his reaction to the meeting between Modi and Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Replying, he said many countries across the globe talk to the regime in Tehran.
“Well, I don’t think there’s a trade deal between India and Iran. Obviously, there are countries… all develop their own foreign policy, and many countries around the world talk to the Iranian regime,” he responded to Kilmeade’s remark that Modi and Pezeshkian appeared to set up a trade deal.
“I mean, we’ve met with elements of the Iranian regime as well, in terms of some of these discussions that have occurred and there’s been contact with them,” Rubio said, while also warning that “no 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.”
What Narendra Modi said at SCO summit
As the war in West Asia completed six months and a peace deal remained elusive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told leaders of the SCO countries that the crisis demonstrated that a “conflict in one region does not remain confined there” and “impacts global energy security, maritime trade and supply chains,” with the Global South bearing the brunt of the “consequences”.
Addressing the SCO summit, Modi said India’s position is that the “resolution of all tensions and conflicts is possible only through dialogue and diplomacy, not on the battlefield”.
On Monday, Modi and Pezeshkian met at the summit for the first time since the start of the war.
