Rubio says US still willing to negotiate over Iran crisis

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the United States ​is still willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis but Tehran is not serious about talks, as the widening conflict disrupted two of the world's most critical ‌energy chokepoints.

Rubio made his comments in a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers a day after three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen's Houthis.

The Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the war which 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 leading out of the Gulf, the Red Sea has served as the main alternate route out for millions ​of barrels of Saudi oil per day.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in ⁠efforts to salvage the interim ceasefire agreement signed by the US and Iran in June, which replaced an earlier April ceasefire.

Read: Trump says US will strike reported Iranian nuclear site at Pickaxe Mountain 'very heavily'

In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has visited ​mediator Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts.

Rubio said Washington was "always committed to diplomacy" but doubted whether Tehran was equally committed to negotiations.

"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 stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it would create a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asian countries, many of which have territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China.

"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," Rubio said.

With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night on Tuesday. Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours ‌of Wednesday ⁠as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.

Explosions were also reported in the southeastern coastal cities of Chabahar and Konarak, and two blasts were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.

Earlier, Iran targeted US military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it had struck infrastructure belonging to Amazon in Bahrain, where the US tech company operates a regional data centre. Amazon did not comment and Reuters could not verify the report.

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

Oil prices rose further in Asian trade on Wednesday after climbing more than 2% on Tuesday following the Houthi threats, with Brent crude hovering above $91 a barrel and US gasoline back over $4 a gallon.

Iran says it targeted US military base in Kuwait with drone attack

Iran's military said Wednesday that it launched a new wave of drone strikes against US military facilities in Kuwait, claiming it targeted a key American base "a few hours ago," the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.

Iranian forces used "a large number of attack drones" to strike ammunition depots and logistical equipment belonging to the US Army at Camp Doha in western Kuwait.

The report said the attack targeted the storage facilities and “logistical equipment of the land forces command centre."

US military says its latest strikes on Iran have ended, marking 11th successive night of attacks

The US military said ​late on Tuesday it ended its latest round of ‌strikes on Iran that marked the 11th consecutive night of American attacks.

"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military operations centres, maritime capabilities, aircraft ​hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to further ​degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the ⁠Strait of Hormuz," the US Central Command said in a statement.

The ​strikes lasted about 75 minutes late on Tuesday, according to the ​US military.

Read more: US informs Israel of plans to intensify attacks on Iran

Washington said Iran has attacked more than 30 commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the last three months.

The war began when the ​US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded ​with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli ‌strikes ⁠on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands of civilians, destroyed homes and displaced millions.

Fifty civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in the recent US strikes on Iran, an Iranian health ministry official said.

US ​troop deaths in ​the war have risen ⁠to 18 in recent days.

On Monday, Trump vowed revenge against Iran after strikes against US ​troops.

Last week, Trump threatened to expand the targets being ​struck in ⁠Iran to include energy plants and bridges.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians. After Trump's ⁠past ​threats to strike such targets, international ​law experts in the US said in April such attacks may amount to war crimes.

"Gate of Tears"

In a letter to shippers, the Houthis on Tuesday threatened to ​attack any ships that load or discharge Saudi oil.

Trump said the Houthis had not yet shut the Bab el-Mandeb, the "Gate of Tears" strait leading into the ​Red Sea, and threatened to ⁠act against them if they did.

"So far it hasn't happened," Trump said. "If something like that happens, we take care of it."

Three oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea's mouth.

Throughout the war, Saudi Arabia partially escaped the shipping disruption by piping oil to Yanbu on the Red Sea instead. But a ⁠full closure of ​that alternative route by the Houthis could reduce global oil supply as it would leave most Saudi oil exports trapped.

On Tuesday, Trump ​renewed his threats to again attack Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz "pretty soon", which he said in June 2025 had been "totally obliterated" after the U.S. military bombed the facility, buried in a mountain range, that month. Iran promised it would retaliate.