U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Wednesday that "the United States remains ready to negotiate to end the crisis with Iran," but noted that "Tehran is not taking the talks seriously so far."

Rubio, during his remarks in the Philippine capital Manila, explained that "Washington is always committed to diplomacy," but he questioned Iran's commitment, saying: "If they are serious, we will be serious. If they are not, we will do what is necessary to protect our interests and the interests of our allies."

These remarks come at a time when the escalating conflict is disrupting two of the world's most vital energy corridors, amid ongoing mediation efforts. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire, in an effort to salvage the temporary ceasefire agreement signed between the United States and Iran in June, which replaced a previous agreement reached in April.

Diplomatic Moves and Field Escalation

In a sign of continued diplomatic efforts, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, which has taken on a mediator role, and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts in this regard.

For his part, Rubio stressed the need to prevent Iran from controlling the Strait of Hormuz, warning that this would set a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asian countries facing regional disputes with China in the South China Sea. He added: "If we set a precedent in the Middle East allowing a nation-state to control an international waterway and impose fees or blow up ships, we open the door for that to be repeated in other regions."

In the absence of tangible diplomatic progress, U.S. forces bombed targets across Iran for the 11th consecutive night on Tuesday evening. The semi-official Fars News Agency reported that residents in Tehran said they heard explosions in the early hours of Wednesday, while Iran activated its air defenses over the capital.

Explosions and Mutual Strikes

In the same context, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported explosions in the coastal cities of Chabahar and Kenarak in the southeast of the country, in addition to two blasts in Bushehr, where Iran's only nuclear plant is located.

It is worth noting that Iran had previously targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, and an oil tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran said it struck infrastructure belonging to Amazon in Bahrain, where the company operates a regional data center, but Amazon did not comment, and Reuters could not verify these reports.

In developments on the fighting, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 American soldiers have been killed so far in the war, including four in Iranian attacks on U.S. military bases in Jordan and Iraq over the past few days.

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