US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the US remains willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis but accused Tehran of not being serious about talks.
Mr Rubio made his comments in a meeting of South-east Asian foreign ministers a day after several oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
The tankers abandoned their course for the Bab Al Mandeb and turned towards the Suez Canal.
The U-turns came a day after Yemen's Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, declared a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia, a move that could exacerbate the energy shock caused by the war.
With Iran already targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz leading out of the Gulf, the Red Sea has served as the main alternative route for millions of barrels per day of Saudi oil.
Mr Rubio said the US is open-minded on the Middle East conflict and willing to engage, negotiate and settle differences with Iran. He added that Washington was "always committed to diplomacy" but questioned whether Tehran was genuinely interested in 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,” Mr Rubio told his South-east Asian counterparts in Manila, who have expressed serious concern about the renewed hostilities.
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,” said Mr Rubio.
On Tuesday evening, the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night. 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 south-eastern coastal cities of Chabahar and Konarak, and two blasts were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, the official Irna news agency reported. Several parts of Bushehr province were targeted in US attacks on Wednesday morning but no casualties were reported.
In response, Iran's army said it had carried out a new wave of drone strikes targeting US military assets in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.
Attempts to revive diplomacy
Mediators are attempting to persuade the US and Iran to halt hostilities, proposing a 10-day truce and a return to negotiations to reach an agreement on the management of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, The National understands.
Sources said the mediators are trying to convince Washington and Tehran to clarify the “ambiguous language” in last month's agreement, which has led to differing interpretations about controlling navigation in the strait.
In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has visited mediator Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its conciliatory efforts.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, received separate phone calls from the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Oman, his office said early on Wednesday. Doha, alongside Pakistan, played a central role in mediating between Washington and Tehran and helping to broker the interim agreement reached last month.
In separate conversations with Bahrain's Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Oman's Badr Al Busaidi, Sheikh Mohammed stressed “the importance of all parties committing to diplomacy”, a statement from his office said.
