Rubio Heads to France to Sell G7 Allies on Iran War Strategy

Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to France to try to sell America's skeptical Group of Seven allies on the strategy of the Iran war that has sent global fuel prices soaring.

Rubio attended a G7 foreign ministers meeting near Versailles outside of Paris on Friday "to advance key U.S. interests" and "discuss shared security concerns and opportunities for cooperation," the State Department said. The trip placed Rubio at the center of a widening fracture between Washington and its closest democratic partners over a war that has upended global energy markets since U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes against Iran on February 28.

Nearly all of the other G7 nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, have reacted coolly at best to the U.S.-Israeli military operation. The State Department agenda statement listed Russia-Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and threats to peace and stability globally as areas of focus, and was released amid conflicting accounts over whether the U.S. and Iran are talking about a resolution to the conflict.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. and Iran have had discussions, although Iran denied it, as numerous other countries worked on nascent efforts to find an off-ramp to the crisis, which has caused the price of oil to skyrocket with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping, including tankers.

The economic stakes underlying Rubio's diplomatic mission are stark. Gasoline prices in the United States soared to nearly $4 a gallon since the start of the war, stoking consumer fears as the attacks prompted the closure of a critical maritime passage for oil delivery. The economic impact of the conflict, including the Strait of Hormuz closure, has been described as the most severe global supply disruption since at least the 1970s, characterized by the International Energy Agency as the "greatest global energy and food security challenge in history."

Brent crude oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel on March 8 for the first time in four years, rising to $126 per barrel at its peak. Starting on March 4, Iranian forces declared the Strait "closed," threatening and carrying out attacks on ships attempting to transit it. Roughly 27% of the world's maritime trade in crude oil and petroleum products moves through the Strait.

The war has precipitated a second major energy crisis for Europe, primarily through the suspension of Qatari LNG and the Strait closure, coinciding with historically low European gas storage levels estimated at just 30% capacity following a harsh winter, causing Dutch TTF gas benchmarks to nearly double to over €60 per megawatt-hour by mid-March. That energy pressure gives European G7 members compelling reason to push for a diplomatic off-ramp, even as Washington seeks their backing for a war they never endorsed.

Oil prices fell on Monday after Trump claimed "productive conversations" had been held between the United States and Iran, though the global price of oil still stood at about $100 a barrel, marking a steep rise from pre-war levels. Iran's denial of those talks left Rubio walking into Versailles with no confirmed diplomatic opening to point to, only a mandate to hold the alliance together as the costs mount on both sides of the Atlantic.