Rubio says Iran ‘paying the price’, urges Houthis to stay out of conflict

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Iran was “paying the price” for repeatedly failing to honour agreements with Washington.

“These people make deals and then they break it almost immediately or they decide, ‘Oh, let’s change the deal.’ That’s not how deals work,” Rubio told reporters in the Philippines, on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.

“So now they’re paying the price for it. And maybe they’ll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses.”

Rubio later claimed Iran was “not ready to make a deal,” accusing its leadership of repeatedly reneging on agreements.

“Every time these people do a deal, they either break it or, after they make it, they want to change the deal,” he said, claiming Tehran was “begging” to resume talks with Washington.

He argued that Iran would eventually return to negotiations because “the price they’re paying is very high.”

Referring to President Donald Trump’s approach, Rubio said the administration’s policy was “a head for an eye.”

“The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses. Right now, apparently, they haven’t come to their senses,” he said, adding that Iran was already “paying a very heavy price.”

Houthis ‘should stay out of it’

Rubio also urged Yemen’s Houthi group to avoid becoming further involved in the regional conflict, claiming it had been “suckered into” the war by Tehran.

“I hope that they’ll stop. They shouldn’t really do that. They got suckered into this by the Iranians,” he said.