Rubio: Iran agreed to negotiations, US also addressing NATO

02.06.2026 19:00 HotInfo

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate on Tuesday that Iran has agreed to negotiations on its nuclear program. This marks a new shift following a period in which Washington acknowledged that a deal with Tehran could still take several more days and that a swift end to the tension was not certain. Le Figaro ↗

Rubio also confirmed that, according to Washington, Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and increasingly involved in running the country. Khamenei was injured during the Israeli-American strikes and has not appeared in public since taking office in March. However, according to Rubio, there are signs that he is becoming more involved, although he communicates in writing and through intermediaries. aktuality.sk ↗

Previous negotiations with Iran were accompanied by disputes over the nuclear program as well as American strikes on Iranian targets, which Washington described as self-defense. Tehran viewed them as a violation of the ceasefire. Rubio had previously stated that a deal was still possible, but also spoke of an alternative course of action should diplomacy fail. hnonline.sk ↗

The head of American diplomacy also commented on Europe. According to him, the United States is reassessing its role in NATO in relation to countries that refuse to allow the use of their bases, with Spain mentioned specifically. Rubio also reiterated the demand to raise Alliance members' defense spending to five percent. ta3.com ↗

Going forward, the decisive factors will be negotiations with Tehran, the stance of European allies on American demands within NATO, and Washington's broader approach to international cooperation, including the resumption of cooperation with the Gavi vaccine alliance. Deutschlandfunk ↗