TEHRAN, July 22 (AFP): Fresh US strikes triggered air defences in Tehran on Wednesday after President Donald Trump warned he was "not finished" with a war with Iran that has already cost his nation $37.5 billion.
After the foes' fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz led to the collapse of a preliminary deal, the Middle East war has expanded to include the region's other key chokepoint for global oil supplies.
The US military said its latest attacks hit targets such as "military logistics infrastructure", while Iranian state media reported strikes around the country, including Bushehr, which hosts a nuclear power plant.
"News sources reported minutes ago that air defence activity was heard in the west, east and northeast of Tehran," state TV posted on Telegram.
As the war nears the five-month mark and November legislative elections approach, Trump has faced intense political pressure to end the conflict, which is unpopular even with segments of his base.
Critics have pointed to the cost of the war that Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth said Tuesday had soared to $37.5 billion, defending a request for tens of billions in additional funding for the military.
The US military said Tuesday it had launched an eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying it targeted military sites to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."
Trump said Tuesday that the next US target could be an underground complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, a subterranean nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility.
AP adds: President Donald Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly about the yet to be formally announced decision, said the agreement was expected to be announced publicly as early as Wednesday.
The deal is expected to last 30 years and is also expected to involve U.S. firms in developing the program. The deal could allow for the building of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia following a joint U.S.-Saudi study.
But the deal, which is expected to be submitted to Congress for review, could face headwinds among lawmakers who fear that helping the Saudis fulfill their long-standing desire to enrich their own uranium would open new rounds of nuclear proliferation and competition.
Saudi Arabia is a member state of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a Vienna-based agency which promotes peaceful nuclear work but also inspects nations to ensure they don't have clandestine atomic weapons programs.
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