Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Hashem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera

QUESTION: Let me start by asking you this: Have more talks begun with Iran, or are we still in direct communications exploring common ground?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, there's messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries, but there's been some conversation. And I think the President always prefers diplomacy, always prefers an outcome, but we could have done this before. I mean, imagine an Iranian regime who, instead of spending billions of dollars supporting terrorist groups and building up all of these weapons, had invested that money into Iran, for the people of Iran, so they wouldn't have water shortages, so their economies would provide opportunities for an incredible people. The people of Iran are incredible people, very resourceful, very entrepreneurial, but it's their regime that's been a problem.

And instead, they've chosen to spend the wealth of their country to support Hizballah, and Hamas, and Shia militias inside of Iraq, and to try to destabilize Syria when Assad was there, and all over the world to sponsor terrorist plots and build these drones and build these weapons to threaten their neighbors unnecessarily. So we would always welcome a scenario in which Iran was led by people that had a different view of the future and had a different view, and if that opportunity presents itself, we're going to take it.

QUESTION: What are your main demands for Iran at this particular stage of the war -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, Iran can never - the Iranian regime can never have nuclear weapons, and they need to stop sponsoring terrorism, and they need to stop building weapons that can threaten their neighbors. These short-range missiles that they're launching, they only have one purpose, and that is to attack Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain. That is the range of these weapons, and they have thousands of them. They've built extraordinary numbers of them. And not to mention, the - their desire to have this nuclear weapon to threaten and blackmail the world with, that will never be allowed to happen. It's too great a risk.

QUESTION: What would you consider to be the minimum concession from Tehran to bring this conflict to an end?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think they have to take demonstrable steps towards ending any ambition of having nuclear weapons. If what they want is nuclear energy, there are multiple countries in the region that have or will soon have nuclear energy, and they're going to do it through a well-established mechanism that everyone else has agreed to, and that is that you allow imported fuel - you import the fuel or - and that fuel is used to power up your power grid and provide energy resources for your people. What they cannot have is a system that allows them to quickly weaponize it. They have to stop making all of these drones and all of these missiles. We saw recently where they lied. They said they didn't have long-range missiles and then they fired two that extended well beyond the range of what their own foreign minister just a few days earlier said they didn't have the range to reach.

So they have to abandon all these weapon programs and all their nuclear ambitions, and if they do that then Iran's future can be bright. But they have to choose that path, and for 47 years they've refused that path.

QUESTION: Iran said it rejects the U.S. demands, and they set its own conditions, such as the financial compensation and also recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Are those demands acceptable from an American perspective?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, not only is the sovereignty over the Straits of Hormuz not acceptable to us, it won't be acceptable to the world. No one in the world can accept it. Number one, it sets an incredible precedent. So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own. The United States could do that now, other - the Chinese could do it in the South China Sea. No one in the world is going to accept that, or should accept that.

Now, let me be frank. Very little of American energy comes through the Straits of Hormuz in terms of the energy we rely on, but we recognize the impact that it has on global markets and on our neighbors, especially our allies in the region who produce energy and have to get it out to market. So no country in the world should accept it, the regional countries in the world shouldn't accept it, the United States will not accept that condition. It's an illegal condition that they're demanding. That's just not going to happen.

QUESTION: As the U.S.-Israeli campaign continue, there's not been any indication that the Strait of Hormuz is secure enough to restore the flow of oil and gas into global markets. Are you consider a plan to ensure full control over the entire straits?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the Straits of Hormuz will be open. When this operation is over, it will be open, and it will be open one way or another. It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block the commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations from around the world and the region, with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it's open. But one way or the other, it's going to be open.

But we have very clear objectives that we're trying to achieve here. Those objectives are the destruction of their air force, which has been achieved; the destruction of their navy, which has largely been achieved; a significant reduction in the number of missile launchers that they have, which we're well on our way to achieving; and we are going to destroy the factories that make those missiles and those drones that they are using to attack their neighbors and the United States and our presence in the region.

We will achieve those objectives. We are well on our way or ahead of schedule. We will achieve them in weeks, not months. And then we'll be confronted with this issue of the Straits of Hormuz, and it'll be up to Iran to decide. And if they choose to try to block the straits, then they will have to face real consequences, not just from the United States but from regional countries and from the world.

QUESTION: Your regional allies in the region, their critical energy installations are being bombed, their cities bombed almost on a daily basis. And they're looking for a quick path back to stability. What would be your message to them?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think the best way to stability, given the people who are in charge in Iran, is to destroy the ability of Iran in the future to launch these missiles and these drones against their infrastructure and civilian populations. If you think about what they've struck in the region, what has Iran gone after? It's been energy infrastructure against countries that were not waging war against them, but yet they went after these countries nonetheless. This is why they built these missiles and drones in the first place.

But they've also attacked embassies, diplomatic facilities, which is unheard of. They've attacked airports, which is unheard of. This is what they've done, and this is a weakened Iran. This is an Iran that's weaker than it's been in 10 years. Imagine five years from now or three years from now, when they had more missiles, more drones, what they would have been willing to do to their neighbors and to us. That was intolerable. That's why this needed to be done now.

The United States is committed to finishing the job. We're working very closely with all of our allies, work very closely in defensive - yes, unfortunately, drones and missiles get through from time to time, but the overwhelming majority of these launches are defeated. They're shot down before they reach their intended target or the destruction would be far worse. These are strong, stable countries in the region. These are our allies; these are our friends. And we are going to continue to be there and support them as they face this onslaught. And by the way, they're not the ones - Iran is targeting them in retribution, which tells you the nature of the people we're dealing with, unfortunately.

QUESTION: But it seems that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to be the only focal point for you, because with the Houthis stepping in and firing missiles into Israel, Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea, could become issues that you would have to reconsider.

SECRETARY RUBIO: It could, and look, that's been an ongoing issue. And when they did that, the United States took action against it as well, and many of our regional allies have had to do so in the past. It's the desire, whether it's the Houthis on one side or Iran on the other, to close these international waterways and create a toll road, where basically you have to ask for their permission in order to use them and get your products in and out of market. That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to us, but it should be unacceptable to the world.

And I think it's important, and I'm glad to see the effort Bahrain is leading in the United Nations, which we've been very supportive of, to get an international coalition that says we will not accept a world in where either the Iranians on one side or the Houthis on the other get to control international waterways and impede the free flow of goods from nation-states. That's just not something we're going to accept; neither should the world.

QUESTION: Do you have any issues with Mojtaba Khamenei staying in power once this is over and the IRGC continuing to play the crucial role it plays now?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, let me say, first of all, we don't even know if he's in power. I know they say he's in power. No one has seen him; no one has heard from him. It's very opaque right now. It's not quite clear how decisions are being made inside of Iran. But our objectives here from the very beginning had nothing to do with the leadership. Would we love to see a difference - do we think the people of Iran deserve better leadership than what they've gotten from the clerical regime? One hundred percent. Would we be heartbroken if there was a change in leadership? Absolutely not. If there's something we could do to facilitate that, would we be interested in participating? Of course.

But that was not the objective of this operation. The objective of this operation, which I outlined now and President outlined clearly on the first night, is the destruction of their air force, which we've achieved; the destruction of their navy, which we've largely achieved; the destruction of their factories, which we are well on our way to achieving, meaning factories that make these weapons; and significantly reducing the number of missile launchers that they have so they can't continue to threaten their neighbors and America. Those were our objectives, that's what we're focused on, and that's what we are well on our way towards achieving.

QUESTION: Are you fully aligned with the Israelis when it comes to the objectives at the end game?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, they have a different objective in terms of they are focused on the mid-range missiles in the northern part of Iran that target them. And obviously we coordinate and deconflict with them in terms of our operations. But what they are focused on is different. We're not critical of it. Those things are threats to them. Those mid-range missiles that Iran launches that reach into Israel, those are threats that they're facing. They're also facing a threat from Hizballah, which they're confronting as well.

So they have their own objectives. We deconflict so that our objectives and theirs don't run into each other, but the President for the United States of America has established a very clear mission which we are executing on, and we will achieve our objectives in a matter of weeks.

QUESTION: Do you believe the EU and NATO countries betrayed the U.S. at this crucial moment?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think it was very disappointing. You have this - and again, look, the President and our country will have to reexamine all of this after this operation is over. But one of the reasons why NATO is beneficial to the United States is it gives us basing rights for contingencies. It allows us to station troops and aircraft and weapons in parts of the world that we wouldn't normally have bases, and that includes in much of Europe. And to see that in a time of need - the United States has identified a grave risk to our national security and our national interest, and we needed to conduct this operation, and we have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our - of their bases. And there are other countries that have done that as well.

And so you ask yourself, "Well, what is in it for the United States?" And I've been a big supporter of NATO and one of the reasons why I've been a supporter of NATO is because I believe that these basing rights give us leverage and give us flexibility in operational capability all over the world. But if NATO is just about us defending Europe if they're attacked but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that's not a very good arrangement. That's a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined. All of it's going to have to be reexamined.

QUESTION: I recently has spent some time in Europe, and basically what they say is that it's the U.S. which is sending confusing messages to us, it's the U.S. which is planning to disengage from Europe, it's the U.S. which doesn't seem to be really willing to team up with NATO when it comes to moving forward in Europe, and this explains the reason why we are being very cautious dealing with the Americans when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz in particular.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, if that's someone in Europe told you, that person is very disingenuous because the United States has tens of thousands of troops stationed throughout that region, billions of dollars of weaponry staged throughout Europe - all of it there to defend Europe. Not to defend America. To defend Europe from attack. All over it. The United States is - without the United States, there is no NATO. I mean, everyone recognizes that, including NATO. If we decided tomorrow that we were going to remove our troops from Europe, that would be the end of NATO. So they know that. And that commitment - we haven't moved troops out of NATO. So anyone who said that is not being honest, is not - I think they're playing games.

At the end of the day it's very simple. NATO is a Alliance, and an Alliance means it has to be mutually beneficial. It cannot be a one-way street. Let's hope we can fix it. We'll have time to address it after. Right now we're focused on this operation.

QUESTION: Let's move on to something else. I would like to talk to you about Venezuela after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Could you tell us more about your plans for Venezuela in the future?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think it's moving along very well. We said it from the very first day after that operation happened. I said our hope is, number one, to stabilize the country. We didn't want to see civil war. We didn't want to see systemic collapse. We didn't want to see a mass migration event. You've seen none of these things.

What you've seen is that for the first time in decades, Venezuela is now selling their oil in the global market at full market price, and the money is coming back to Venezuela and being spent for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. It's being spent to buy medical goods and equipment. It's being spent to cover the salaries of teachers and police officers and civil servants and people that - sanitation workers and things of this nature. So it's a very important part.

The second phase after the stabilization occurs or concurrent with the stabilization is a period of recovery in which you try to recover the elements of the country that allow it to prosper and grow, and that is attracting businesses back, creating the kind of stability that brings businesses back. We're seeing that begin to happen. But you're also seeing civil life come back to life. Independent media is now allowed to operate. Political prisoners have been released. Political parties are forming again. People are speaking and participating in public life.

And finally, you want to see a full transition, because in order for Venezuela to fulfill its economic potential it has to have a stable democratic government that people are willing to invest in that economy because they know that they're protected by laws and courts and legitimacy.

So we are well on our way to achieving this. A lot of credit goes to the interim authorities who have assumed this responsibility. We've reopened our embassy. We enter in dialogue with them every single day. We feel very positive about it.

QUESTION: Many assume Washington will focus on Cuba next once the war is over in the Middle East. What kind of decisions or policy would you like to see in place for potential regime change?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, look, we don't need anything from Cuba, to be honest with you. I mean, Cuba needs from us. We don't need from Cuba. And what I mean by Cuba, I mean it's their regime. The problem Cuba has, it's a very fundamental problem and they need to understand it, and we've tried to explain it to anyone who will listen: Their system doesn't work. Their system of economics, I can't even describe it but it's completely dysfunctional. It's just not a real system, and you can't change it unless you change the government.

As an example, a week ago they said, well, Cuban Americans can now invest on the island. Invest in what? Invest in a country that has arbitrary laws, no established system of courts and justice? Who's going to invest in something like that.

You also can't have economic prosperity without some significant level of political freedom. If I'm going to participate in the economic life of a country and I don't like the regulations or the rules the government is putting in place that are hampering me, I have to have the ability to complain about that. And in that country you can't complain about that or you'll get put in jail.

So I think Cuba needs to make - and if Cuba really wants to emerge from the hole they've put themselves in, meaning the regime has put them in, they really need to undertake very serious reforms of both their government and of their economy. And if they're willing to do so, we're going to help them. We've done nothing punitive against the Cuban regime. They claim we have, but we haven't. They only thing that's changed for the Cuban regime is they're not getting free Venezuelan oil anymore. They're not getting subsidies anymore. That's the only thing that's changed.

These blackouts that are occurring that I seen people reporting have nothing to do with us. They were having blackouts last year. They're having blackouts because they have equipment from the 1950s in their grid that they've never maintained and never upgraded because they're incompetent. That's why they're having blackouts.

QUESTION: So I'll end it - my last question, if you don't mind. Do you have any sense of clarity about when the war is going to be over in the Middle East?

SECRETARY RUBIO: This - the operation in Iran?

QUESTION: Mm-hmm.

SECRETARY RUBIO: As soon as we achieve our objectives as I have outlined them repeatedly, and that is we're going - we've destroyed their navy, we've destroyed their air force, we are well on our way to destroying the majority of their arms factories, and we're well on our way to significantly degrading their missile launchers. When those objectives are achieved we will have achieved the purpose of this operation, and that's something that's not going to take months. That's a matter of weeks. I'm not going to tell you exactly how many weeks, but a matter of weeks, not months.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Thank you. Really appreciate your time. Thank you.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you.

Tags