Rubio says US still willing to negotiate over Iran crisis

Dubai/Manila. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington remains willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis, but Tehran is not serious about talks as the widening conflict disrupts two of the world’s most critical energy routes.

Rubio made the remarks during a meeting with Southeast Asian foreign ministers, a day after three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia changed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.

The Houthis, who control the coast near the mouth of the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the conflict that has killed thousands of people across the Gulf since it began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

With Iran already threatening shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to global markets, the Red Sea has become the main alternative route for millions of barrels of Saudi oil exports each day.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire aimed at preserving an interim ceasefire agreement signed by the US and Iran in June.

In another sign that diplomatic efforts remain ongoing, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited mediator Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts.

Rubio said Washington was “always committed to diplomacy” but questioned whether Tehran shared the same commitment.

“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks. If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests and also the interests of our allies,” Rubio said in Manila.

He warned that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, saying such a move would set a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asian countries involved in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent,” Rubio said.

With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military carried out its 11th consecutive night of strikes on targets across Iran on Tuesday. Tehran residents reported hearing explosions early on Wednesday as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Three locations in Iran’s Bushehr Province, home to the country’s only nuclear power plant, were hit by US strikes early on Wednesday, an official told Iran’s state news agency IRNA. The targets included an electricity facility near the plant.

Iran’s military said it targeted US facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain with drones early on Wednesday. It claimed to have hit accommodation buildings, storage facilities and aircraft maintenance hangars at bases in Jordan and Bahrain.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the claims.

US President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed so far in the conflict, including four in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq in recent days.

Oil prices rose further in Asian trading on Wednesday after increasing by more than 2 per cent on Tuesday following the Houthi threats. Brent crude remained above $91 a barrel, while US petrol prices rose above $4 a gallon.

“Gate of Tears”

In a letter to shipping companies on Tuesday, the Houthis threatened to attack vessels loading or unloading Saudi oil.

Trump said the Houthis had not yet closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, known as the “Gate of Tears”, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and warned he would act if they did.

Three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than risking the Yemeni coastline.

Throughout the conflict, Saudi Arabia partially avoided shipping disruptions by transporting oil through pipelines to Yanbu on the Red Sea. However, a complete closure of that alternative route by the Houthis could reduce global oil supplies by trapping most Saudi exports.

On Tuesday, Trump renewed threats to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz “pretty soon”, saying the site had been “totally obliterated” after US forces bombed the underground facility in June 2025. Iran has vowed retaliation.

A health ministry official said 50 civilians had been killed and 500 wounded in recent US strikes on Iran.