Trump says US 'not finished' attacking Iran as conflict widens

US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the United States was "not finished" attacking Iran, as Tehran widened strikes on Gulf states after its Houthi allies threatened to blockade Saudi Arabia's ports. Two weeks after fighting resumed between the decades-old foes, Trump said Iran would need more than 20 years to recover from the damage inflicted in the Middle East war. "If we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild," he said. "We're not finished at all... we're not leaving right now." The warning came as Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain reported Iranian attacks.

Trump used a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to pledge support for his fragile effort to disarm Hezbollah and move towards peace with Israel. Bahrain said it intercepted Iranian attacks as sirens sounded repeatedly, while Kuwait and Jordan said they had intercepted drone and missile strikes. Kuwait said Tehran had hit power and water desalination plants over several days, including on Monday, forcing residents to ration energy.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed a strike on Jordan, saying they had targeted a "complex housing US terrorist forces in the region of Rukban". The Iranian army had earlier said it targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.

Houthi threat Trump said he would "take care of" Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels if they followed through on a threat on Monday to blockade Saudi Arabia's ports. Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the threat from what it called the "terrorist Houthi militia". It remains unclear how the Houthis would enforce such a blockade. 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.

Cost of war Following the deaths of at least three US soldiers in recent days, Washington launched new attacks against Iran on Monday that it said were "designed to further degrade" Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The deaths bring to 17 the number of US service members killed since the war resumed on July 7. Nearly 100 have been wounded, the Pentagon said on Monday. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told US senators on Tuesday that the war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.

Despite the fighting, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said diplomatic exchanges with Washington through mediators were continuing. Mediator Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for restraint during a meeting with Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, urging all sides to "refrain from actions that could further destabilise the region".

Trump also sought to show US support for Lebanon, whose army has begun deploying in southern areas under a US-backed framework agreement with Israel aimed at extending state authority and disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah. Meeting Aoun at the White House, Trump promised to help Lebanon.