Marco Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others.
New Delhi:US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged China to encourage Iran to not shut down the oil corridor Strait of Hormuz, a possibility that several reports indicated after US strikes on Iran's three nuclear facilities.
Speaking to Fox News, Mr Rubio said, "I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil."
"If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries' economies a lot worse than ours," he added.
Around 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The narrow channel, approximately 33 km wide at the narrowest point, separates Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south).
Rubio's remarks came hours after US sent B-2 stealth bombers into Iranian territory and destroyed the country's three nuclear facilities - Fordow, Ifshahan and Natanz. The strikes involved the deployment of 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. "We'll judge them (Iran) by actions moving forward. If they want to negotiate, we will negotiate. If they want to do things that are dangerous, we have responses available," he said.
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