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Slight progress occurred in U.S.-Iran indirect negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday. His remarks to the press came during meetings with NATO leaders in Helsingborg, Sweden. However, he said U.S. hardline objectives remained the same: Iran could not have a nuclear weapon or highly enriched uranium, and it could not impose a tolling system on the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio urged NATO members on the UN Security Council to vote soon to approve a U.S.-Bahrain resolution which would require Iran to stop attacks, mining, and tolling in the strait. The resolution already had a large number of cosponsors, including some NATO members, he said, but others had yet to join the initiative. If the world allowed tolling in an international waterway, it would also occur in other areas vital for global trade, he said. Iran was attempting to convince Oman to join it in overseeing tolls on the strait, he said.

Russia and China vetoed a first shot at the U.S.-Bahrain resolution in April. However, Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently expressed some agreement with the U.S. position regarding the strait after talks with President Donald Trump. France’s foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday said his country would soon introduce its own resolution concerning the strait, Reuters reported.

Did Rubio acknowledge friction between the United States and NATO? He referenced Trump’s vocal dissatisfaction with NATO allies for refusing to participate in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, but said that matter wouldn’t be solved Friday. However, NATO allies agreed on the need to cooperate in growing their defense industrial bases, he said. Munitions production especially needed to increase, he said.

Rubio also referenced Trump’s decision Thursday to deploy 5,000 more troops to Poland as an example of continuing cooperation. However, the United States was reassessing troop assignments in other NATO countries due to its needs elsewhere, he said.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on the outcome of U.S.-China talks, including details on Xi’s comments about the strait.