Trump threatens to obliterate any active nuclear site in Iran

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to destroy any active nuclear site in Iran, saying Washington would strike any location where Tehran tried to revive its nuclear programme. He also warned the Houthis over any disruption to shipping in the Red Sea, as tensions continued to rise amid a widening cycle of attacks.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said the United States was still exerting “a big impact” on Iran and claimed Tehran was “desperate” to talk. He added that Washington had no interest in engagement unless Iran was prepared for “meaningful” negotiations. He also said the US would hit any new site tied to nuclear activity, saying that “any site where they’re even thinking about nuclear” would be targeted.

The threats came as the two sides continued to exchange strikes. According to the feed report, US forces bombed targets in southern and western Iran overnight, while Iran struck US sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Explosions were reported around Shiraz, and Iranian media said Konarak and Chabahar on the southern coast, as well as Khorramabad in the west and a civilian site near Abdanan, came under attack. An Iranian outlet quoted an official in Khorramabad as saying no enemy strike had taken place there.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted a compound housing US soldiers in Jordan’s Al-Rukban area and claimed several personnel were killed. Trump later acknowledged that Iran had managed to “slip something through” in Jordan.

The maritime situation also worsened. Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz faced continued risk, while Houthis in Yemen enforced a blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in an apparent effort to disrupt Saudi oil shipments. Two tankers carrying Saudi crude for China and India turned back in the Red Sea and headed for the Suez Canal. The Guardian was cited in the feed as saying the Houthis claimed six ships had changed course.

Trump said the United States would “take care of business” if the Houthis carried out their threats. He referred to past US action against the group and said American forces had not heard from them in some time after earlier strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz also remained shut, according to the feed, with Iranian officials saying it would stay closed while US attacks continued. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker in Hormuz reported being hit by a projectile, forcing the crew to abandon ship. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards separately said two “non-compliant” tankers trying to use the unsafe southern route through Hormuz were stopped after explosions caused serious fires aboard them.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee that the war had cost the United States $37.5 billion, revising an earlier estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.

This report is based on a monitored public feed and attributed to Dawn World. Source: Dawn World - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017405/trump-threatens-to-obliterate-any-active-nuclear-site-in-iran