Rubio Peters meeting, Iran negotiations discussed, 7th Apr

Home Office of the Spokesperson Press Releases Secretary of State Marco Rubio and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters Before Their Meeting

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

Colin L. Powell Treaty Room

Washington, D.C.

April 7, 2026

SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you for coming.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, do you expect Iran to come to the table?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Hope we have more news later today on that.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you tell me what do you think about Cuba’s president telling Newsweek that they’ll strike back against the U.S. if the U.S. launches operations there?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay, sure, yeah.  I don’t think much about what he has to say.

QUESTION: So, Mr. Secretary, a message to other nations like New Zealand impacted by this war in Iran?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.  The whole world’s been impacted unfortunately because Iran is violating every law known by striking commercial vessels in the Straits of Hormuz, and it’s a big problem for the world.  I mean, this is a regime that doesn’t believe in laws, rules, or anything like that.  It’s a state sponsor of terrorism, so it’s not surprising that they’re now conducting terrorist activity against commercial vessels.

So all right, thank you.

Tags

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs New Zealand Office of the Spokesperson The Secretary of State