ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (VINnews) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is urging China to use its influence to rein in Iran’s actions in the Persian Gulf, where Chinese vessels have been stuck following an incident involving one of its cargo ships.

“The Chinese have ships stuck in the Persian Gulf,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One. “A Chinese cargo got hit over the weekend. I’m sure Iran didn’t do it deliberately but they did it, it happened. And so that’s why these Chinese ships are stuck in there.”

Rubio described the situation as a major source of instability that threatens to destabilize Asia, a region heavily reliant on the Persian Gulf straits for energy shipments.

“It’s in [China’s] interest to resolve this,” he said. “We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.”

The comments come amid heightened tensions in the region, with Iranian actions disrupting commercial shipping. Rubio’s outreach to Beijing reflects the administration’s strategy of leveraging China’s economic stakes in stable Gulf waters to pressure Tehran indirectly.

No immediate reaction from Chinese or Iranian officials was available.