US renews strikes on Iran as Trump threatens to attack underground nuclear site
BBC News 2026-07-22 03:05:08
Context: The United States has launched a series of strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night, targeting military operations centers, maritime capabilities, and drone storage facilities, in an effort to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes come as tensions escalate between the US and Iran, with US President Donald Trump threatening to attack an underground nuclear site near Natanz. Iran has warned of reprisals, with its military command stating that an attack on the nuclear site would be considered an "expansion of war in the region".
Key Facts
- The US launched strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night, with US Central Command (Centcom) stating that 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 defenses were activated in the capital Tehran, and explosions were also reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, and in Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.
- US President Donald Trump 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, and warned that the US would "hit that area pretty soon, and very heavily".
- Iran's Khatam Al-Anbiya military command said it would consider an attack on the nuclear site as an "expansion of war in the region", threatening strikes on "all the interests of America, the allies and supporters".
- The war with Iran has cost the US some $37.5 billion (£28 billion) so far, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stating that military training would have to be curtailed unless lawmakers approved an urgent funding boost.