Rubio: US still ready to negotiate but Iran is not serious; strikes continue for an 11th night

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Manila that Washington remains committed to diplomacy and is ready to negotiate, but that, in his words, "the problem is they (Iran) are not serious about talks; if they are serious, we are serious." He accused Iran of failing to honor the understanding on the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had struck Iranian military command centers, drone storage sites and logistics infrastructure for an 11th consecutive night, aiming to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz." Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a fresh wave of attacks "to punish the US" had begun early Wednesday.

The continuing war and the diplomatic stalemate remain the single most important external variable for Iran's currency, gold and equity markets.