President Trump says the US is “not finished” with Iran as American strikes continue for an 11th consecutive night and Tehran threatens reprisals across the region.
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN — Web Desk: Fresh US strikes triggered air defence activity in Tehran on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said the United States was “not finished” with its war against Iran, a conflict that has already cost Washington an estimated $37.5 billion.
The US military carried out an eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Tuesday, targeting sites it said were linked to Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported strikes in several areas, including near Bushehr, home to a nuclear power plant.
The conflict, which had earlier centred on the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of a preliminary deal, has since widened to include other critical global oil supply routes in the region.
Trump indicated that the next American target could be an underground facility known as “Pickaxe Mountain,” a suspected undeclared enrichment site near Natanz that Western intelligence believes Iran has been developing.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained open to a diplomatic resolution, speaking at a Southeast Asian ministers’ meeting in Manila. He said Iran was not approaching negotiations seriously at this stage.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said diplomatic exchanges with the United States were continuing through mediators.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth confirmed on Tuesday that the war’s cost had climbed to $37.5 billion, a figure he cited while requesting additional military funding from Congress.
Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya military command warned that a strike on the Natanz-area facility would be treated as an expansion of the war, threatening action against American, allied, and partner interests, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
The war between the United States and Iran is nearing its fifth month, coinciding with mounting political pressure on Trump as November’s legislative elections approach. The conflict has drawn criticism even from segments of his political base, partly over its rising financial cost.
Trump has said Iran would require more than two decades to rebuild from the damage inflicted during the conflict, stating the US did not intend to withdraw at this stage.
Kuwait’s military said its air defences engaged Iranian drone attacks on Wednesday, part of what officials described as continuing Iranian reprisals. Bahrain said it intercepted Iranian attacks on Tuesday amid repeated air raid sirens, while Kuwait and Jordan also reported intercepting drone and missile strikes.
Iran’s army said it had targeted US-linked assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz were struck and disabled by explosions on Tuesday. Separately, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported an unidentified projectile struck a tanker off the coast of Oman.
Trump warned he would respond if Yemen’s Houthi rebels followed through on a threat to blockade Saudi Arabian ports. Maritime intelligence provider Vanguard Tech said two tankers, flagged to Singapore and Liberia respectively, reversed course in the Red Sea after loading crude at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had exchanged fire for the first time in years the previous week, straining a 2022 truce, though the group had largely stayed out of direct confrontation since Israel and the US began striking Iran in late February.
As of Wednesday, strikes and reprisals were continuing across multiple fronts, with air defence systems activated in Tehran and regional US allies reporting intercepted drone and missile attacks. Diplomatic contact between Washington and Tehran was said to be ongoing through intermediaries, though no breakthrough has been announced.
With domestic political pressure mounting ahead of US elections and the financial cost of the war continuing to rise, the coming weeks are likely to determine whether renewed diplomatic engagement can de-escalate the conflict or whether military operations, including a potential strike on the Natanz-area facility, will continue to expand the war’s scope.
