The China Mail - US hits Iranian island, says war cost at $37.5 bn

Fighting over the strategic strait led to the collapse of a preliminary deal between the United States and Iran, but top US diplomat Marco Rubio again reiterated Washington's stance that it was willing to find a negotiated agreement with Tehran.

"We remain open to working it out in a negotiated way. But right now, they don't seem to be serious about that," Rubio said at a Southeast Asia ministers' meeting in Manila.

He insisted that the US was right to strike Iran because it was attacking Hormuz shipping and planned to rebuild its missile and drone capabilities.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had previously said that diplomatic exchanges with Washington through mediators were continuing.

On Wednesday afternoon, a US missile hit Larak, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported, saying the extent of the damage was being investigated.

The US military has repeatedly targeted Iran's many islands in the Gulf and the strait since hostilities resumed.

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, which Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday had soared to $37.5 billion, defending a request for tens of billions in additional funding for the military.

But Trump himself has bucked the pressure, saying: "We're not finished at all... we're not leaving right now.

- Pickaxe Mountain -

The US military said on 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 had said earlier that the next US target could be an underground complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, or Kolang mountain in Persian, a subterranean nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence agencies suspect Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility.

Iran threatened reprisals, with the Khatam Al-Anbiya military command saying it would "consider it as an expansion of war in the region" if such an attack were carried out, threatening strikes on "all the interests of America, the allies and supporters", state-run broadcaster IRIB reported.

Foreign ministry spokesman Baqaei, meanwhile, insisted that "Washington's obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage".

He also pointedly wondered aloud as to the whereabouts of the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, accusing the US of breaching UN rules.

Earlier, Grossi had told the BBC that inspectors "should be there already" in reference to Iran, but added "it should be soon", saying it was important that the IAEA check on Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

- Missiles intercepted -

The threats came as Tehran pressed its offensive against US-allied Gulf states.

Kuwait's army said on Wednesday that its air defences were engaging drones from Iran, while Jordan said it had shot down four Iranian missiles and four drones.

Air alert sirens also sounded in Bahrain, with an AFP correspondent in Manama hearing an explosion.

The Iranian military said it targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also said they had targeted US bases in Jordan.

After Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen threatened to blockade Saudi ports, Trump said he would "take care of" the rebels if they followed through.

It remains unclear how the Houthis would enforce such a blockade, but Brent Crude, the global benchmark, soared 4.4 percent to top $95 a barrel for the first time in six weeks on Wednesday.

The Houthis are yet to resume their attacks on shipping, but maritime intelligence provider Vanguard Tech said a Singapore-flagged tanker and a Liberia-flagged tanker both "reversed course" in the Red Sea after loading crude at the Saudi port of Yanbu.

If the Houthis make good on the threat, they could endanger Riyadh's ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some oil exports, with major repercussions for the global economy.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire last week for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce, but the rebels have largely remained on the sidelines since Israel and the United States attacked Iran in late February.

Throughout the Gaza war, the Yemeni rebels attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, forcing vessels to make a long detour around Africa and prompting a US bombing campaign.

G.Tsang--ThChM