US Secretary of State Marco Rubio privately reassured a top Australian official that a deal to provide the US ally with nuclear-powered submarines, which is under review by the Pentagon, will not be terminated, according to six people familiar with the matter.

The pact between the United States, Britain and Australia — or AUKUS, after the initials of the three countries — would bring Canberra into an exclusive club of nations possessing the powerful weapons platform. The Pentagon this year began a review of the multibillion-dollar deal, prompting concerns that the administration might abandon the project.

But two weeks ago, Mr Rubio, who is also national security adviser, told Australia’s deputy prime minister Richard Marles, in Washington that the submarine partnership would continue, a

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