🔸 RUBIO REASSURES GULF STATES, TRUMP PRAISES ERDOGAN, CENTCOM ELIMINATES ISIS LEADER
🔸 RUBIO REASSURES GULF STATES: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his meeting with Gulf states was "fruitful and beneficial" and focused on their concerns and anxieties.
Rubio said he confirmed President Trump's position that there are no fees for crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
He said Gulf states raised serious concerns, including Iran's funding of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, which he said interferes in the affairs of regional countries.
Rubio said the U.S. is monitoring the continued flow of ships through the Strait of Hormuz and that Gulf states do not support imposing fees or taxes on the waterway.
"We refuse to pay any money for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, regardless of the name or method of payment, and we will not tolerate it," Rubio said.
He said no funds have been transferred to Iran and no agreement has been reached to do so.
Rubio said he came to the region to reassure U.S. partners that Washington will not agree to any action that undermines their security or poses a threat to them.
He also said the U.S. did not discuss creating an Iranian reconstruction fund with the Gulf states and that Oman said it does not support any fees for crossing the Strait.
Rubio told Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers in Manama: "We want to ensure that in any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interests of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account, that there is no part of this deal that's undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region."
While Washington maintains that no country can charge for the use of international waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf states remain skeptical regarding Iran's potential military rebuilding and unaddressed ballistic missile capabilities.
Rubio added: "You can call it a toll, you can call it a fee, whatever you want to call it—it's a game of semantics. The reality of it is that no country on earth has a right to charge for the use of international waterways. And that will never be an acceptable condition of any deal. The President's been fundamentally clear about that."
🇹🇷 TRUMP SIGNALS POSSIBLE TURKEY ARMS MOVE: President Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said Erdogan stayed out of the war after Trump asked him not to get involved.
"He is a friend of mine, and he stayed out of the war. You know, he was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran. Maybe, on Iran's side, because he is not a big fan of Israel, as you know. And I asked him to stay out. He stayed out," Trump said.
Asked whether Turkey wants F-110 jet engines and F-35 fighter jets, and whether he was going to Turkey with a "big gift bag," President Trump replied: "I think so. He is a member of NATO. Some people don't consider him as such, but he really is. He is a strong member of NATO. Yeah, I'm going to probably do something that's going to make him very happy."
🎯 CENTCOM ELIMINATES SENIOR ISIS LEADER IN SYRIA: U.S. Central Command said its forces conducted an airstrike in northwest Syria on June 19 that eliminated senior ISIS leader Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi.
CENTCOM said: "CENTCOM forces conducted an airstrike in northwest Syria, June 19, that resulted in the death of a senior ISIS leader. The precision strike killed Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi and is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to disrupt and eliminate terrorists seeking to attack Americans abroad or the U.S. homeland."
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