Iran-Israel Tensions

The United States struck Iranian military targets for a 12th consecutive night on Wednesday, escalating an offensive that has now entered its third week since a ceasefire collapsed. President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Georgia, asserted that Iran is not prepared to conclude a nuclear agreement, though he separately suggested Tehran would soon be ready to finalize a deal to halt the conflict.

Trump later attended a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base for four service members killed in Iranian strikes in Jordan and Iraq. The Pentagon identified the fallen as Tyler James Feehan, 25; Isabella Gonzales, 19; Angel S. Rampersad, 28; and Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30. U.S. military deaths have reached 18, with roughly 500 wounded since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began Feb. 28.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has requested an urgent $67 billion military injection, estimating the war has cost $37.5 billion. Trump threatened to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure if Tehran continues striking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran's underground Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility "very soon and with great force," saying the military campaign against Tehran is "not even close to over". Trump said Iran would need more than 20 years to recover from damage already inflicted.

The Pickaxe Mountain site near Natanz is suspected by Western intelligence of housing an undeclared uranium enrichment facility. Israel believes Iran moved advanced centrifuges and highly enriched uranium there following 2025 strikes. Trump acknowledged the U.S. has no confirmed records of such a transfer but dismissed its significance. Trump received a Situation Room briefing last week on escalation strategies, including an operation to seize Kharg Island and airstrikes on Pickaxe Mountain.

Washington and Tehran have been exchanging strikes for two weeks, shattering a June 18 ceasefire, with Iran expanding attacks across the region. Trump said he has no interest in meeting Iran until Tehran is prepared for meaningful nuclear negotiations, even as he claimed Iran is desperate for talks.

President Donald Trump threatened to bomb and destroy a bridge or power plant in Iran — including sites in or near Tehran — for every Iranian attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating his rhetoric after warning a day earlier of possible strikes on the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site near Natanz.

The ultimatum followed a night of intensified exchanges: US Central Command said it struck Iranian military operations centres, drone storage facilities, air hangars and logistics infrastructure, while air defences were activated over Tehran and explosions were heard in Bushehr. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks on US targets in Jordan, and Iran's military said it launched drone strikes on a US base in western Kuwait, with retaliatory hits also reported in Bahrain and Qatar. The US military death toll has risen to 18 since hostilities began on 28 February.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth put the conflict's cost at $37.5 billion and requested an additional $67 billion from Congress. Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen announced a blockade of Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea. US intelligence assessments indicate 11 days of renewed strikes have not altered Iranian behaviour, and Iran's UN ambassador called US attacks on civilian infrastructure war crimes, drawing concern from UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Iran relocated thousands of centrifuges into tunnel networks beneath Pickaxe Mountain near Natanz last autumn, preparing the site for uranium enrichment to 90 percent, according to Israeli intelligence assessments. The mountain facility, buried up to 600 meters beneath solid granite, is believed to be beyond the reach of bunker-busting munitions such as the GBU-57.

The transfer followed U.S.-Israeli strikes in June 2025 during a brief war that destroyed three Iranian nuclear sites, including Natanz's above-ground enrichment plant, which was destroyed, and its underground facility, which sustained heavy damage. The Institute for Science and International Security has documented truck traffic, tunnel reinforcement, and new security perimeters at Pickaxe Mountain since last year.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike the site, saying the United States would destroy it. Iran has maintained since 2020 that the location is merely an advanced centrifuge assembly workshop.