More Red Sea shipments disrupted as Rubio says Iran not serious about talks
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “always committed to diplomacy” but doubted whether Tehran was equally committed to negotiations.
PHOTO: EPA
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran is not serious about peace talks, as Iran-backed Houthis threaten to block Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea, disrupting key energy routes.
- The US and Iran have escalated attacks, with US bombing Iranian targets and Iran striking US bases in the region, raising tensions and causing oil prices to reach near six-week highs.
- Diplomatic efforts continue, with mediators proposing a 10-day ceasefire and Pakistan urging safety for shipping, but no breakthrough is yet achieved amid ongoing conflict and threats.
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DUBAI/MANILA – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on July 22 that Iran is not serious about talks to end their war, as the widening conflict disrupted two of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.
Four tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on July 22, 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 South-east Asian foreign ministers in Manila.
Mediators have presented Iran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on July 20.
Analysts said the new threat to shipping from the Houthis on July 21 was a tactical move by Iran.
“Tehran is trying to create leverage for a negotiation,” said Mahmoud Shehrah, associate fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme at Britain’s Chatham House think tank.
The proposal aims to salvage an interim ceasefire agreement signed by Washington and Tehran in June.
Iran’s 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 on July 22, 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 Feb 28.
Rubio said such control would be dangerous for the world, including South-east Asia, where many countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
Oil prices up near six-week highs on fears of escalation
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.
Oil prices rose to near six-week highs on July 22, with benchmark Brent crude futures at almost US$94 a barrel and US petrol prices, which have dented Trump’s popularity ahead of midterm elections in November, back over US$4 a gallon.
With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night on July 21.
Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of July 22 as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, the semi-official Fars news agency said.
Three locations in Iran’s Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, were hit by US attacks early on July 22, an official told Iran’s state news agency IRNA, including an electricity post close to the plant.
Iran’s army said it struck accommodation buildings and equipment storage facilities at Al Azraq air base in Jordan, and later targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain using Arash suicide drones.
Jordan said it had shot down four Iranian drones and intercepted six Iranian missiles.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify details of the attacks.
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.
Trump said the Houthis, who threatened in a letter to shippers on July 21 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 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. REUTERS
