Trump: bomb one Iran bridge or power plant per Hormuz attack
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- Trump posted on social media that "any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz... the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT"
- The US military completed its 11th night of strikes on Iran targeting aircraft hangars and drone storage sites; Iran's Health Ministry reports 53 people killed (including 6 women and 3 children) and nearly 600 wounded over 11 days
- Iran launched a missile attack on Jordan's Aqaba — visible from Israel's Eilat — with Jordan's military saying it intercepted 4 missiles and 4 drones, raising fears the conflict could widen
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated the US has spent $37.5 billion on the war so far, as benchmark Brent crude rose to about $94 a barrel and gasoline prices climbed ahead of US midterm elections
- Trump signaled US forces may target Pickaxe Mountain, an under-construction underground nuclear site adjacent to Iran's Natanz enrichment facility that was untouched during last year's 12-day war
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried attacks on civilian infrastructure as "unacceptable," as Iran sent Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Pakistan seeking to revive stalled diplomacy
- The US re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports after Iran began targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants in neighboring Gulf countries; Iran-backed Houthis separately threatened Saudi shipping in the Red Sea
Why it matters: With Brent crude at $94 a barrel and $37.5 billion already spent on a war with no diplomatic offramp, Trump's tit-for-tat threat to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants transforms the conflict into an open civilian-infrastructure war that UN chief Guterres has condemned as "unacceptable."
