‘The world is not going to live with it’, Winston Peters warns on Hormuz crisis after Marco Rubio meeting
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has emerged from meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the conversation was “seriously intense, very real”, and that freedom of the seas was a priority for New Zealand amid the ongoing Iran conflict.
He said it was “not hail-fellow-well-met — this is serious stuff”.
A few hours later, Trump and Iran confirmed a two week ceasefire.
Since the war in Iran began in late February shipping has all but stopped in the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran has effectively blocked ships from transiting through it, or made the threat of attacks credible enough that shipping has largely ceased. That has helped drive up the global oil and refined fuel crisis, raising the spectre of potential shortages.
“Rubio gave quite a substantial answer when he mentioned what was happening in the Strait of Hormuz — the breach of the law, the illegality going on on a daily basis, on these sort of fundamental things that need to be accentuated on the basis that the world is not going to live with it. It cannot afford to,” Peters said.
Read more:
“We've been one of the strongest supporters of the Law of the Sea for decades and decades and decades, and for the right reasons. And we hate to see it being manipulated and misused,” he said.
The meeting took place as US President Donald Trump continued to ramp up rhetorical pressure on Iran, warning on social media that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, before adding that he hoped it would not happen.
While Peters would not be drawn specifically on Trump’s comments, he did say the coming days in the conflict hung over the meeting.
“Obviously the conflict in the Middle East, the fact that in the next few hours critical decisions are being made — that was a difficulty in the conversation.
“We didn't know what those announcements were going to be. And all in all, we dealt with the combination of our relationship and working together on so many things that are of critical importance to our part of the world.”
He said the conversation — which was requested by the US, rather than New Zealand — confirmed that Washington does not regard the Pacific as marginal, despite the backdrop of the Iran conflict.
“Well, it's clear they've got a lot on their plate at the moment, but they're also a world power thinking about the full world, not just part of it. So the discussion on, for example, the Pacific was regarded as seriously relevant, not just a sideshow,” Peters said.
“We're not so much mentioning China in the Pacific, but talking about our collective interest in the cause of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, the right to worship the God of your choice.
“These are fundamental things that we intend to ensure are understood going forward, and many countries share our aspirations on those goals for future society. And that makes sense.”
The foreign minister met with his counterpart in Washington DC in the early hours of the morning (NZT). Rubio has been one of the more consistent spokespeople on the administration’s goals for the war.
Rubio took aim at Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been a significant factor in the steep rise in global oil and refined fuel prices.
“The whole world’s been impacted, unfortunately, because Iran is violating every law known by striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and it’s a big problem for the world,” Rubio said.
“I mean, this is a regime that doesn’t believe in laws, rules, or anything like that. It’s a state sponsor of terrorism, so it’s not surprising that they’re now conducting terrorist activity against commercial vessels,” he said.
Peters said the flow of fuel into the region was discussed and that the US seemed receptive to some of the concerns New Zealand raised.
“Look, you're having a conversation — you can raise some critical developments in front of them. It was their response which encouraged us. They thought hard about it and started making suggestions about how they might help.
“Hopefully we will not need it, but if it is needed, we've done the work today.”
Peters also said he raised the issue of tariffs again with Rubio.
“I reminded them that we were the country that threw ourselves open to the rest of the world in 1984, and that the rest of the world didn't join us — and we've been paying the price ever since.
“So if you want to talk about a country where tariffs should not be imposed, New Zealand would be the number one example. I just reminded him of that.”