U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday negotiating a deal with Iran could “take a few days,” quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict ​a day after U.S. forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.

Describing the strikes against targets including boats attempting to lay mines ‌and missile launch sites, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz has to be open “one way or the other.”

“The straits have to be open, they’re going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open,” Rubio told reporters on his plane in India’s Jaipur.

Despite a ceasefire in place since early April, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Monday it had carried ​out fresh strikes designed “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

Iran said on Monday it had downed a “hostile” stealth drone using a new air ​defence system, Iranian news agencies reported, without saying where it had come from.

The U.S. attacks came as Iran’s top negotiator and its ⁠foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a potential deal with the U.S. to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit ​said.

Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier that the U.S. would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in “another way”.

He said there was ​a “pretty solid thing on the table,” referring to talks over reopening the strait and a “very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter.”

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going “nicely”, but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It “will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all,” he wrote.

In another indication of ​the region’s tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would intensify strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Israel’s military soon thereafter said it was ​attacking Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and other areas.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, but Israel has continued airstrikes it says are acts of self-defence against Hezbollah, ‌which was ⁠not party to the truce.

The official briefed on the Iranians’ Doha visit told Reuters the discussions focused on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while Iran’s central bank governor attended to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that nuclear issues would only be negotiated after the framework accord was agreed.

Trump has said his key aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon ​with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran has ​consistently denied it has plans to do ⁠that.

Baghaei said the potential Iran deal contained no specific details on management of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually flows.

Iran would not charge tolls for ships to pass through but there ​would be a cost for services offered such as navigation and steps to protect the environment, he said, under a protocol ​to be agreed with ⁠Oman, which lies on the opposite shore of the waterway.

Citing a Middle East diplomatic source, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported the U.S. and Iran were discussing a plan to open the strait about 30 days after reaching a deal to end hostilities.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, only a few dozen vessels have been passing through the ⁠Strait of Hormuz ​compared with 125 to 140 daily previously.

The stand-off has caused a spike in oil prices and driven ​up the costs of fuel, fertiliser and food.

In early Asian trade on Tuesday, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up slightly from Monday’s last traded price but down 5.5% from Friday’s close.

A gunman who fired at a White House checkpoint ‌was shot by officers and died after being taken to the hospital on Saturday evening, the Secret Service said.

The man approached the ​checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue near the ​White House, pulled a gun out of his bag ⁠and started shooting at officers, according to a Secret ​Service statement sent to Reuters. Officers returned fire and shot ​the suspect, the agency said.

A bystander was struck by gunfire, the statement said, but it did not make clear how badly the person ​was hurt. Another Secret Service statement, cited by multiple news ​outlets, said it was not clear whether the bystander was hit when ‌the ⁠gunman began shooting or during the subsequent exchange of gunfire.

The shooting suspect was identified as an emotionally disturbed person, a law enforcement official told Reuters, adding that a “stay-away order” had ​been issued ​to him previously.

No ⁠law enforcement personnel were injured, the Secret Service said, adding that President Donald Trump was ​at the White House during the incident.

The ​shooting comes ⁠nearly a month after a gunman fired shots inside the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, prompting Trump and ⁠other officials ​to be rushed out.

An explosion at a dry dock in New York City’s Staten Island killed one ​person and injured 36 others on Friday, ‌as the blast occurred while firefighters were on the scene responding to a fire and attempting to rescue ​two people who were trapped, officials said.

Two ​firefighters were hospitalized, including a fire marshal who ⁠suffered a fractured temple and a brain ​bleed and was intubated, officials said. The other ​firefighter was in serious condition but had shown improvement, officials said, Reuters reported.

“This was a complex, fast-developing emergency situation,” New York Mayor ​Zohran Mamdani told reporters.

“First responders did what they ​always do: they ran towards danger so others could escape ‌to ⁠safety.”

Officials did not provide details about the person who died except to say it was a civilian.

A comprehensive investigation would begin once the fire ​was completely ​extinguished, Mamdani ⁠said.

Firefighters had responded to reports of a fire in a basement and ​two workers trapped and were on ​scene when ⁠the explosion occurred, officials said.

The incident took place in the Richmond Terrace section of the borough of ⁠Staten ​Island, a part of New ​York City that is across the harbor from Manhattan.