US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates this week, set for June 23–25, following the weekend breakthrough Switzerland-based negotiations with Iran, Department of State Spokesperson Tommy Pigott announced Monday.
The announcement comes on the heels of indirect talks between Iranian and American officials - the latter delegation which was led by Vice President JD Vance in person, which took place on Sunday in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock under the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain from June 23-25. The Secretary will discuss a range of regional priorities," Pigott said in the official statement released by State. These countries will likely seek some kind of serious reconstruction reparations for the attacks they suffered through the opening months of Operation Epic Fury.
According to the spokesperson, Rubio's diplomatic tour will focus heavily on the newly drafted US-Iran memorandum of understanding, alongside ongoing initiatives to restore free, safe, and regular commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
Pressure has also been put on Oman of late to not side with Iranian demands for its own protocol for international vessel passage. Broader regional stability will top the agenda, even as official claims in terms of technical details agreed to by the warring sides is somewhat at odds.
"In Bahrain, the Secretary will also meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss shared priorities across the region," Pigott added.
The signed MoU accord establishes specific timelines for the United States to eventually dismantle its naval blockade of Iranian ports in exchange for Iran restoring safe shipping lanes through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
This is a big 'if' given that the Iranian side has signaled that this could take a long time, and as a 60-day window for formal negotiations - focusing especially on the nuclear file - is sure to be wrought with many hurdles and hold-ups.
Furthermore, Tehran has committed to refraining from seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran will seek among primary objectives for these subsequent talks the formal lifting of longstanding anti-Iran sanctions.
But already there's been plenty of disagreement on how that will look as well, in terms of the concrete details.
On Monday the US Treasury issued a temporary 60-day general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil. There's real positive momentum, this one big development reveals.
While this suggests that Washington is very serious about ending the war at this point, a lot could still go wrong, also as Israel and Hezbollah have continued sporadic fighting in Lebanon. At the moment an uneasy official ceasefire is on in south Lebanon, but this and other key sticking points remain huge question mark issues.