Trump threatens to obliterate any active nuclear site in Iran
• President says Tehran ‘desperate’ to talk, but US only interested in ‘meaningful engagement’
• Iran strikes US personnel in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait
• Two Saudi crude tankers turned back by Houthi blockade
• War has cost $37.5bn, says Hegseth
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to obliterate any active nuclear site in Iran and also deal with Houthis in case of any shipping disruptions in the Red Sea, as both sides continued to escalate attacks following a breakdown of a fragile ceasefire almost two weeks ago.
President Trump said Washington would strike any new sites where Iran tried to resume its nuclear weapons programme. “We’re not leaving right now; we’re having a big impact on Iran,” he told reporters at the White House.
“We will absolutely attack the new site that they’re talking about,” Trump added, referring to a new site where he claimed Iran would resume its nuclear activity. “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 reiterated that Iran “desperately” wanted to meet, but said that Washington had no interest in engaging with Tehran “unless they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way”.
US, Iran exchange strikes
US forces bombed targets in the south and west of Iran overnight, while Tehran targeted US sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Explosions were heard around the city of Shiraz, state media said. Konarak and Chabahar on the southern coast, the city of Khorramabad and a civilian site outside the city of Abdanan, both in the west, all came under attack, media reports said. However, the IRNA news agency quoted an official in Khorramabad as saying no enemy attack had taken place there.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a complex housing US soldiers in Jordan’s Al-Rukban region, claiming that several personnel were killed. This attack was also acknowledged by President Trump, who said Iranians were able to “slip something through” in Jordan.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war has cost the US $37.5 billion, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29bn in mid-May. “The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Hegseth testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defended the request for some $67bn in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.
Blockades at sea
On the other hand, tankers in the Strait of Hormuz braved attacks, as Houthis in Yemen enforced the blockade of Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in a bid to block Saudi oil supplies. Subsequently, two oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea and headed for the Suez Canal. According to the Guardian, Houthis claimed six ships had changed course.
In response to the blockade, Trump said the US would “just have to take care of business” if the Houthis followed through on their threats. “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, Hormuz remained blocked, with Iranians saying that the strait would remain shut as long as the US attacks continued. The maritime security agency UKMTO said on Tuesday a tanker in Hormuz reported being struck by a projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel.
Also, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two “non-compliant” oil tankers attempting to pass through the unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz were stopped after explosions caused extensive fires aboard them.”
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2026
