US still willing to negotiate over Iran crisis: Rubio
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Iran is not serious about talks to end the war, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, as the widening conflict disrupts two of the world’s most critical energy choke points.
Four tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Wednesday, a day after three others had done so, following threats to block Saudi shipping from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who control the coast on the southern route out.
With Iran already threatening shipping out of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day are heading to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu instead.
The northern route out via the Suez Canal adds weeks to the shipments.
US attacks on Iran have expanded from the south in recent days to include central and western areas, while Tehran has hit vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait and says it has targeted US military assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
“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 at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila.
Mediators had presented Iran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.
The proposal aims to salvage an interim ceasefire agreement signed by Washington and Tehran in June.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited mediator Pakistan this week and asked it to continue its efforts.
Pakistan strongly condemned the Houthi threat to block Saudi oil exports, saying that while it remained committed to dialogue, all parties should ensure the safety of shipping and respect international law.
Iran has insisted on maintaining control over the Strait of Hormuz that it established during the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
Rubio said such control would be dangerous for the world, including Southeast Asia, where many countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
The war has killed thousands of people across the Gulf, and Iran’s squeeze on energy shipments from Gulf states has driven inflation around the world.
With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military bombed targets in Iran for an 11th straight night.
Tehran residents reported hearing explosions early on Wednesday as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, Iranian media reported.
Three locations in Iran’s Bushehr Province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, were hit by US attacks , an official said.
That included an electricity post close to the plant.
Iran’s army said it struck accommodation buildings and equipment storage facilities at the US Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan, and targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.
Jordan said it had shot down four Iranian drones and intercepted six Iranian missiles.
US President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed in the war, including four in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq in the last few days.
He said the Houthis, who threatened on Tuesday to attack any ships that load or discharge Saudi oil, had not yet shut the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading into the Red Sea, and threatened to act against them if they did.
A full closure of that alternative route by the Houthis could further reduce global oil supply as it would leave most Saudi oil exports trapped.
Trump renewed his threats to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities buried in a mountain at Natanz again “pretty soon”.
After the US bombed the facility in June 2025, he said they had been “totally obliterated”.
Iran pledged to retaliate.
with Reuters, PA and DPA
Reuters