Washington's top diplomat insisted Tuesday that the US would not accept any attempt to impose tolls or fees on Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway where the UN said it would begin evacuating thousands of sailors stranded by the Middle East war.
The US and Iran have signed a preliminary deal to halt the war, and concluded a first round of talks in Switzerland as part of a 60-day negotiation period to settle outstanding issues like sanctions relief and the fate of Tehran's nuclear programme.
An Iranian blockade that began early in the conflict choked off maritime traffic through the Hormuz strait -- sending global oil prices surging -- but crossings have begun to rise again since the US-Iran deal was inked.
Iran has repeatedly maintained it will retain control over the waterway, including on Tuesday, when it and Oman said in a joint statement that they would study the administration of the trade route and the costs to be charged for services provided, insisting on their sovereignty over the strait.
But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, kicking off a regional tour, reiterated Washington's position that such an arrangement would be unacceptable.
"It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway," he said, adding that he believed "all the countries in this region would agree".
Tehran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had earlier insisted the Strait of Hormuz "will never return" to the pre-war status quo, despite the foes agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open.
The head of the UN's International Maritime Organization, meanwhile, said it would begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded by the Hormuz blockade in cooperation with Iran, Oman and the United States, adding it had "secured the necessary safety guarantees".
Traffic through the strait on Monday reached the highest level since the start of the war, according to two maritime tracking platforms, representing just over 40 percent of the normal peacetime level of about 120 vessels per day.
