US will not accept any tolls on Strait of Hormuz - Rubio

Washington's top diplomat has insisted that the US would not accept any attempt to impose tolls or fees on Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway where the UN said it would begin evacuating thousands of sailors stranded by the Middle East war.

The US and Iran have signed a preliminary deal to halt the war, and concluded a first round of talks in Switzerland as part of a 60-day negotiation period to settle outstanding issues like sanctions relief and the fate of Tehran's nuclear programme.

An Iranian blockade that began early in the conflict choked off maritime traffic through the Hormuz strait - sending global oil prices surging - but crossings have begun to rise again since the US-Iran deal was inked.

Iran has repeatedly maintained it will retain control over the waterway, including today, when it and Oman said in a joint statement that they would study the administration of the trade route and the costs to be charged for services provided, insisting on their sovereignty over the strait.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, kicking off a regional tour, reiterated Washington's position that such an arrangement would be unacceptable.

"It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," he said, adding that he believed "all the countries in this region would agree".

Tehran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had earlier insisted the Strait of Hormuz "will never return" to the pre-war status quo, despite the foes agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open.

The head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, meanwhile, said it would begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded by the Hormuz blockade in cooperation with Iran, Oman and the United States, adding it had "secured the necessary safety guarantees".

Traffic through the strait yesterday reached the highest level since the start of the war, according to two maritime tracking platforms, representing just over 40% percent of the normal peacetime level of about 120 vessels per day.

Nuclear disagreements

Diplomacy was in full swing today, with Iran's president heading to mediator Pakistan, Mr Rubio landing in the UAE for visits with Gulf allies, and Lebanon and Israel kicking off more direct talks in Washington.

But Iran denied a claim by US Vice President JD Vance that Tehran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back, after Iran blocked them from nuclear sites struck by its arch foes in a 12-day war last year.

"We have not had a meeting with the director general of the IAEA, nor do we have any plans for the agency to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities damaged by the US and Zionist military aggression," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

US President Donald Trump, however, insisted Iran had "fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future".

When the US joined Israel's previous war with Iran in mid-2025, it bombed nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, including with powerful bunker-busting munitions.

The extent of the damage remains unknown despite Mr Trump claiming they were "obliterated".

Iran's UN ambassador Ali Bahreini also told reporters "there hasn't been such a decision" to accept IAEA inspectors.

Without missiles, Iran would be 'just like Gaza'

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that, without its missiles, his country would have ended up "just like Gaza", insisting that its ballistics programme was non-negotiable.

"If the missiles we have for our defence did not exist, Israel and the United States would have ploughed Iran just like Gaza, showing no mercy to either the old or the young," he said during a visit to Pakistan.

"We will never negotiate with anyone, under any circumstances, ever, about our defensive capabilities," he added.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meanwhile confirmed that the preliminary agreement signed by the US and Iran, alongside the mediating parties, made no mention of ballistic missiles.

"There cannot be double standards ... that some countries can have ballistic missiles and Iran shouldn't have. You cannot digest this duplicity," Sharif said.

Tehran fired hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones at its Gulf neighbours and Israel during the war that was sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iran's missiles were initially developed to compensate for its weak air defences during the war with Iraq in the 1980s, and have since only gained range and accuracy.

Israel, located 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) away from Iran, has longed viewed the programme as an existential threat.

Before the war, the United States had sought to include the ballistic missile programme, as well as Tehran's support for armed proxies, in negotiations over Iran's nuclear activity.

In recent days, President Trump had appeared to soften his stance on the missiles issue.

"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some," he said last week at the G7 summit in France.

Diplomatic whirlwind

In addition to the UAE, Rubio also plans to also visit Kuwait and Bahrain - all attacked by Iran during the war - to discuss the deal with Tehran and the Hormuz strait.

Comments by Mr Rubio, an ardent Iran hawk, will be closely watched as he has largely remained out of the spotlight, with Mr Vance taking a lead role in defending the deal.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, was visiting key mediator Pakistan today with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Mr Araghchi and Mr Ghalibaf also held talks in Oman with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, who expressed hope for "a peaceful, definitive settlement", Omani state media said.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said both sides had agreed on a "roadmap" to reach a final agreement within the 60-day timeframe.

They agreed that four negotiating groups be set up on nuclear issues, sanctions and other matters, Iranian state media said.

Lebanon says Israeli gunfire kills two in south

On the Lebanon front, a fifth round of negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli officials began in Washington today in a bid to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict there.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on 2 March, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem again demanded a timetable for a full Israeli withdrawal from the country.

The goal of the Washington talks will be "to end the cycle of violence for good", a US State Department official told AFP.

Despite a reduction in hostilities in Lebanon, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two people in the south today, state media reported.

Israel said it had fired on Hezbollah operatives infiltrating its self-declared "security zone".