U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington remains willing to negotiate an end to the war with Iran, but accused Tehran of failing to approach the talks seriously as the conflict threatened two of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
Speaking during a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila, Rubio said the United States remained committed to diplomacy but questioned whether Iran shared that commitment.
“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks,” Rubio said. “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.”
His remarks came as the widening conflict disrupted shipping through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday, apparently in response to threats from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, Reuters reported.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s coastline near the entrance to the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday and threatened to attack ships loading or unloading Saudi oil.
The move opened a potential new front in the war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and has since killed thousands of people across the Gulf.
Iran has already threatened vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway connecting the Gulf to global markets. The Red Sea had served as a major alternative route for millions of barrels of Saudi oil each day.
Rubio warned that allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz would create a dangerous international precedent.
“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,” he said.
Rubio said such a precedent could be repeated in other regions, including Southeast Asia, where several countries are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
Despite the public criticism, diplomatic efforts have continued.
US strikes in Iran
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire aimed at salvaging an interim agreement signed by the United States and Iran in June, which replaced an earlier ceasefire reached in April.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni also visited Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its mediation efforts.
There was no immediate sign of a breakthrough.
The U.S. military carried out strikes across Iran for an 11th consecutive night on Tuesday. Residents of Tehran reported hearing explosions early Wednesday as Iranian air defenses were activated over the capital, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
An Iranian official told the state-run IRNA news agency that U.S. strikes hit three locations in Bushehr Province, including an electricity facility near Iran’s only nuclear power plant.
Iran’s military said it responded by targeting U.S. facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain with drones.
The Iranian army said it struck accommodation buildings and equipment storage facilities at Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan. It later said Arash suicide drones targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
U.S. President Donald Trump said 18 American service members had been killed since the war began, including four in recent Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan and Iraq.
Energy prices continued to climb as fears grew over shipping disruptions. Brent crude traded above $91 a barrel in Asia on Wednesday, while U.S. gasoline prices rose above $4 a gallon.
Houthis
(Photo: Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
The Bab el-Mandeb strait, known as the “Gate of Tears,” connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
Trump said the Houthis had not yet closed the waterway but warned that the United States would respond if they attempted to do so.
“So far it hasn’t happened,” Trump said. “If something like that happens, we take care of it.”
Three tankers carrying Saudi oil to China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday and headed toward the Suez Canal rather than continuing past Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has partially avoided disruption in the Strait of Hormuz by sending oil through pipelines to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. A Houthi closure of the southern Red Sea route could sharply reduce Saudi export capacity and further tighten global supply.
Trump also renewed his threat to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz “pretty soon.” He previously said the site had been “totally obliterated” in U.S. strikes in June 2025.
Iran has vowed to retaliate against any renewed attack.
An Iranian Health Ministry official said 50 civilians had been killed and 500 wounded in the latest U.S. strikes.