APPLENEWS - STORY ADD

Iran live updates: Iran war has cost at least $29 billion, Pentagon official says

Two weeks ago the official testified the cost was $25 billion.

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.

Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded "one way or the other."


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IDF, Hezbollah report fresh attacks in south Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Tuesday that it hit 45 alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past day.

The IDF claimed that its targets included command posts, observation posts, assembly points, warehouses and other buildings it alleged were being used by Hezbollah forces in the area.

Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed a rocket attack on Israeli forces deployed in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said on Monday that at least 2,869 people have been killed and 8,730 people wounded in Lebanon since cross-border fighting resumed on March 2.


Iran may consider 90% uranium if attacked again, lawmaker says

Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian parliament and the spokesperson for the body's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, suggested in a post to X on Tuesday that renewed attacks on the country may prompt lawmakers to consider a higher level of uranium enrichment.

"One of Iran's options in the event of another attack could be 90% enrichment," Rezaei wrote in a post to X. "We will review it in the parliament."

Weapons-grade uranium -- enriched to a high enough level to use as fuel in a nuclear weapon -- is generally considered to require enrichment of 90% and above. Iran has amassed a stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, the fate of which is a key issue in ongoing peace talks.

The U.S. has estimated that Iran amassed around 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium. President Donald Trump has said that the stockpile was buried underground during the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last year, saying this weekend that the site is "very well surveilled."


Ghalibaf says 'no alternative' to Iran's peace plan

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote in a post to X on Monday that Tehran's 14-point peace plan is the only option for ending the war with the U.S. and Israel.

"There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal," Ghalibaf -- who led the Iranian negotiating team at April negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan -- wrote on Monday.

"Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," he added. "The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it."

-ABC News' Desiree Adib


Trump says ceasefire is 'unbelievably weak' following Iran's 'piece of garbage' proposal

During an Oval Office event about maternal health on Monday, President Donald Trump continued to rail against the Iranian proposal response that he received Sunday, calling it “unacceptable” and “a piece of garbage” that he didn’t even finish reading, adding that the current ceasefire with Iran is “unbelievably weak.”

Trump said he has the “best plan ever” which requires that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon-- something he said Iran’s latest proposal did not explicitly agree to.

“It was just unacceptable. You know, a lot of people said, ‘Well, does he have a plan?’ Yeah, of course I do have a plan. I have the best plan ever,” Trump said.

He later added, “But the plan is, they cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they didn't say that in their letter.”

The president also declared the ceasefire is now at its “weakest” point because of the unsatisfactory response.

“It's unbelievably weak, I would say. I would call it the weakest right now. After reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn't even finish reading it," he said.

But Trump continued to insist that he is facing “no pressure” to secure a deal or end the war, pushing back on claims that he would “get tired” of the operation.

“Are they stupid people? They didn't want to believe it. They think that, well, I'll get tired of this, or I'll get bored or I'll have some pressure, but there's no pressure. There's no pressure at all. We're going to have a complete victory,” Trump said.

Trump pointed to disagreement over the removal of enriched uranium from Iran as one of the biggest issues with Iran’s latest response.

“They changed their mind, because they didn’t put it in the paper,” Trump said of removing the uranium.

-ABC News’ Emily Chang