US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington remains prepared to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis, but accused Tehran of failing to engage seriously as the expanding conflict threatened two of the world’s most vital energy corridors.
Mr Rubio spoke at a gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, one day after three tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia turned around in the Red Sea, apparently reacting to threats issued by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.
The Houthis, who hold the coastline overlooking the Red Sea’s southern entrance, declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, raising the prospect of another front in a war that has killed thousands across the Gulf since US and Israeli attacks on Iran began on 28 February.
Iran has already threatened vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf’s maritime gateway. That has made the Red Sea the principal alternative route for millions of barrels of Saudi oil each day.
Diplomatic efforts have not stopped entirely. Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited mediator Pakistan and urged Islamabad to continue working toward a resolution.
Mr Rubio welcomes senior government representatives from East Timor, Vietnam and Cambodia
Mr Rubio welcomes senior government representatives from East Timor, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Mr Rubio said Washington remained “always committed to diplomacy,” although he questioned whether Tehran shared that 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,” Mr Rubio said in Manila.
He warned that allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz would establish a dangerous global precedent, including for Southeast Asian nations, many of which are locked 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, which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” Mr Rubio said.
With diplomacy yet to produce a breakthrough, the US military struck targets across Iran for an 11th consecutive night. Residents of Tehran reported explosions in the early hours of this morning as Iranian air defences were activated over the capital, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Blasts were also reported in the southeastern coastal cities of Chabahar and Konarak, while two explosions were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, the official IRNA news agency said.
The attacks followed Iranian strikes on US military locations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as a tanker being hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran also claimed it had attacked Amazon infrastructure in Bahrain, where the US technology company runs a regional data centre. Amazon did not comment, and Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim.
US President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 American servicemembers had been killed in the war so far, including four who died in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq during the past several days.
Oil prices continued to climb in Asian trading today after gaining more than 2% on Tuesday in the wake of the Houthi threats, with Brent crude holding above $91 a barrel.
‘Gate of Tears’
In a warning sent to shipping companies, the Houthis said they would attack any vessel loading or unloading Saudi oil.
Mr Trump said the group had not yet closed the Bab el-Mandeb — the “Gate of Tears” strait at the entrance to the Red Sea — and warned that the United States would respond if it did.
“So far it hasn’t happened,” Mr Trump said. “If something like that happens, we take care of it.”
Three tankers carrying Saudi crude bound for China and India reversed direction in the Red Sea, steering toward the Suez Canal rather than risking passage near Yemen’s coast at the waterway’s southern mouth.
Saudi Arabia had partly avoided the war’s shipping turmoil by sending oil through pipelines to Yanbu on the Red Sea. A complete Houthi closure of that route, however, could tighten global supplies by leaving most Saudi oil exports unable to reach international markets.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appears before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing
Earlier this week, Mr Trump revived his threat to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz again “pretty soon.” He said the site, buried within a mountain range, had been “totally obliterated” when the US military bombed it in June 2025. Iran vowed to retaliate.
A health ministry official said the latest US strikes on Iran had killed 50 civilians and wounded 500 others.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told US senators that the conflict had so far cost the United States $37.5 billion, an increase from an earlier estimate of nearly $29bn in mid-May.
