US renews strikes on Iran as Trump threatens to attack Pickaxe Mountain

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. US renews strikes on Iran as Trump threatens to attack Pickaxe MountainImage source, ReutersByChris GrahamPublished24 minutes agoThe United States launched strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night late on Tuesday, as Tehran warned the US against targeting its nuclear facilities. US Central Command (Centcom) said the wave of strikes were "designed to continue degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping" in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported that air defences were activated in the capital Tehran.

Explosions were also reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, and in Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant. Iran, which has retaliated against the US and its Middle East allies, warned of reprisals after Donald Trump said the US would soon hit an underground nuclear site near Natanz. Iran and the US agreed a ceasefire in April, but hostilities resumed last week as both countries battled over control of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway.

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Centcom said US forces had targeted Iranian military operations centres, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure. It also accused Iran of attacking "more than 30 commercial vessels" passing through the Strait of Hormuz over the past three months. "The unwarranted attacks have endangered hundreds of innocent mariners and undermined freedom of navigation," it said, adding the waterway remained "open for commercial vessel transit".

Kuwait's army said early on Wednesday morning that its air defences were engaging with drone attacks from Iran, while Bahrain and Jordan said they had also intercepted drone and missile strikes. Earlier the US president said the next military target could be a complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, an underground nuclear site where Iran is suspected of building an undeclared enrichment facility. "We'll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily," Trump said, addressing reporters during a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

He added that he would not normally announce targets but "there's not a thing they can do about it". Iran's Khatam Al-Anbiya military command said it would consider such an attack "as an expansion of war in the region", threatening strikes on "all the interests of America, the allies and supporters", state-run broadcaster IRIB reported. Trump also threatened to "take care of" the Houthi rebels if the Iran-backed militant group in Yemen followed through on its threatened blockade of Saudi ports.

A Houthi media official had earlier said they were closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait - the Red Sea's southern gateway - to Saudi vessels. The Red Sea has become crucial for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia during the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.