Any decision made for Iran deal should not contradict interest of US partners: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that any decisions made throughout the negotiation process for an Iran deal should not contradict the “interest of our partners and our allies in the region.”

“We want to ensure that any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interest of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account,” Rubio said.

He added that “there is no part of this deal that's undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region, and that is at the core of my visit here today.”

Speaking during his meeting with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States in Bahrain's capital Manama, Rubio said the US desires peace in the region.

“We now enter a new phase, and the one that we hope will lead to peace. It's what we all desire. It's what we all desire is for this region to be a place for people, folks focused on making money, not bombs, not weapons, whether focused on improving the economic lives of their people, not on how to attack other countries.” Rubio said.

He expressed his hopes for the Iran deal to lead to a “very positive outcome,” noting that the US is prepared to work with Iran if Tehran “focuses on the well-being of their own people.”

"We want a deal that's good, we want a deal that's real, we want a deal that's verifiable, and we want a deal that's adhered to," Rubio stressed.

Rubio also emphasized that Iran cannot be allowed to charge tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz, warning that this behavior would spread to other waterways, risking “total chaos.”

“International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos,” he said.

“If, in fact, we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well, then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion.”