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Rubio Fields Iran and Cuba Questions Before Meeting New Zealand Foreign Minister Peters

April 7, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:01:24

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio took questions from reporters at the Department of State on April 7, 2026, before his meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Asked whether he expected Iran to come to the table, Rubio said he hoped there would be more news later that day.

Asked about Cuba’s president telling Newsweek that Cuba would strike back if the United States launched operations there, Rubio said he did not think much about what Cuba’s president has to say.

Asked for a message to nations such as New Zealand affected by the war with Iran, Rubio said the whole world has been impacted because Iran is violating every law by striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. He called it a big problem for the world and described Iran as a regime that does not believe in laws or rules and a state sponsor of terrorism now conducting terrorist activity against commercial vessels.

Why it matters

Though brief, the exchange is Rubio’s clearest one-line framing of the Hormuz crisis as a global, not bilateral, problem — the rationale the administration has used to press partners such as New Zealand on the conflict.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio Meets with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters”, 2026-04-07 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-04-07). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.