STORY: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday (May 25) Washington will give diplomacy "every chance to succeed" in their ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Speaking to reporters in India's New Delhi before boarding a flight to Agra for a visit to the Taj Mahal, Rubio said talks with Iran remain a “work in progress,” expressing cautious optimism about a potential agreement to reopen key shipping routes and resume nuclear negotiations.

The two sides remain at odds on several difficult issues, such as Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israel's war in Lebanon with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Tehran's demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.

Rubio is on a four-day visit to India aimed at shoring up relations battered by Washington's tariffs and engagement with New Delhi's rivals Pakistan and China.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: NEW DELHI, INDIA (MAY 25, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

1. U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, EXITING VEHICLE

2. RUBIO WALKING TO REPORTERS / (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

REPORTER ASKING: "Anything new on Iran?"

RUBIO: "We're still a work in progress. As I said, you know, we thought we might have some news last night. Maybe today. I wouldn't read too much into it. It takes a little while to hear back. So we have, what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the Straits, get the Straits open. Enter into a very real significant, time limited negotiation on the nuclear matters, and hopefully we can pull it off. It has a lot of support in the Gulf. There's a lot of support globally. Every country that we've walked through it, understands is very not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done. As the president said, he's not in a hurry. He's not going to make a bad deal. I mean, the President's not going to make a bad agreement. So let's see what happens. We're going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"Look, the President is not going to make a bad deal. He's just not. This issue, no one has done more and no one has been more serious about the threat of a nuclear Iran than President Trump has been. And so I'm very confident that we should all be very confident that we're not going to have a, we're either going to have a good agreement or we're going to have to deal with it another way. We'd prefer to have a good agreement."

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"Lebanon, we're working on separately with Lebanon. We are engaged now. We have a 45-day ceasefire. We've had weekly meetings now and ongoing daily engagements between the government of Lebanon and Israel. The problem is not Lebanon and Israel. The problem is Hezbollah. Just last night, Hezbollah put out a statement calling for the overthrow of the Lebanese government. And it just reminds you of who you are dealing with here. By the way, an Iranian proxy, 100% Iranian proxy. And as long as Lebanon exists with armaments, as long as an armed Lebanon, as long as an armed Hezbollah exists, it's going to be hard to achieve peace in Lebanon."

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"Israel always has a right to protect itself. Every country in the world does. And so if Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launches missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that or to prevent that from happening."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. RUBIO THANKING REPORTERS / RUBIO BOARDING PLANE