WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that Washington would launch powerful strikes against any Iranian site involved in reviving its nuclear programme, as fighting between the two countries intensified following the collapse of a fragile ceasefire nearly two weeks ago.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the United States would target any new nuclear facility Iran attempted to establish.
“We’re not leaving right now; we’re having a big impact on Iran,” he said.
“We will absolutely attack the new site that they’re talking about,” Trump added. “Any site where they’re even thinking about nuclear, we’ll be hitting it very powerfully. Nobody knows, except the Iranians, the damage we’ve done to them.”
The US president also claimed Tehran was eager to resume talks but insisted Washington would only engage if Iran was prepared for “meaningful engagement.”
US and Iran exchange attacks
Overnight, US forces carried out strikes on targets in southern and western Iran, while Tehran launched attacks on US-linked sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. A tanker was also reportedly hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media reported explosions near the city of Shiraz, while other reports said Konarak, Chabahar, Khorramabad and a civilian site near Abdanan had come under attack. However, Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted a local official in Khorramabad as denying that the city had been targeted.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a compound housing US troops in Jordan’s Al-Rukban region, claiming several personnel were killed. Trump acknowledged the incident, saying Iranian forces had managed to “slip something through” in Jordan.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that the conflict has now cost the United States $37.5 billion, an increase from the previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.
“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Hegseth said while defending the administration’s request for $67 billion in supplemental Pentagon funding.
Shipping disruptions intensify
Maritime tensions also worsened as Yemen’s Houthi movement enforced a blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, disrupting Saudi oil shipments.
According to reports, two Saudi crude oil tankers bound for China and India reversed course in the Red Sea and headed towards the Suez Canal. The Guardian reported that the Houthis claimed six vessels had altered their routes.
Responding to the blockade, Trump warned the United States would act if shipping disruptions continued.
“You know, we’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while since we did what we did originally,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran maintained that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed as long as US military operations continued.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz reported being struck by a projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said they intercepted two “non-compliant” oil tankers attempting to use the southern shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz after explosions caused major fires aboard the vessels.
