ReportedDiplomacy & politicsColombia
Rubio says Iran will 'lose tankers' every time it tries to hit US warships
- Mountain Time
- Local time
- 8:00 PM in Bogota
- Where
- Colombia
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Colombia: 'Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers.' He repeated on Sep 9 that Iran 'pays a price in tankers' and said Washington aimed to squeeze Tehran economically.
Why it matters
Rubio set out an explicit tanker-for-missile formula, signalling Washington would keep escalating economic pressure rather than de-escalate.
Sources (5)
- Fox Newsfoxnews.com
- CBS Newscbsnews.com
- Reuters via Yahoo Newsyahoo.comPublished
- Foreign Policyforeignpolicy.comPublished
- Al Jazeera live blogaljazeera.comPublished
Confidence: Published by a named news organization. Not yet independently confirmed. About confidence labels
Correction
- Corrected the time from 5:00 PM New York time, Sep 8, 2026 to 8:00 PM Bogota time, Sep 8, 2026; corrected the headline (it read "Rubio Warns Iran Will 'Lose Tankers' for Every Attempted Strike on U.S. Warships"); revised the summary; revised the context note; corrected the location from Washington, D.C. to Colombia; reclassified it from diplomatic-statement to diplomacy; updated the sourcing note; added 3 sources: Reuters via Yahoo News, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera live blog. Why and evidence