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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."
Key Headlines
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
Trump considering restarting Project Freedom, believes Iranian leaders are 'going to fold'
President Donald Trump told Fox News journalist John Roberts he is considering restarting Project Freedom, but noted that the U.S. Navy’s role in allegedly “guiding” ships through the Strait of Hormuz would “only be a piece of it."
Further details of the president's plans with the operation were not immediately available.
Project Freedom went into effect exactly one week ago before Trump abruptly paused it Tuesday evening.
According to Fox News, Trump expressed confidence in Iran complying with his demands, saying “they’re going to fold.” On Sunday, Trump blasted Iran's response to the U.S. proposal, calling it "totally unacceptable."
Asked whether he wishes to negotiate with a new round of leaders in Iran, Trump told Fox News, "I will deal with them until they make a deal.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized Iran’s leadership, saying they’re disjointed and not able to communicate with each other. In recent weeks, the president has also suggested that he doesn’t need to make a deal with Iran at all.
Trump also reportedly told Fox News that Iranian negotiators said Iran does not have the technology to retrieve their nuclear dust and that the U.S. must go into Iran to obtain it.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
Iran executes student accused of spying for CIA, HRANA says
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Monday that a student accused by the Iranian government of "intelligence cooperation with Mossad and the CIA" was executed.
Erfan Shakourzadeh, 29, was an aerospace engineering student at the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran, HRANA said.
The Iranian judiciary alleged that Shakourzadeh "received payments in cryptocurrency" for providing "information regarding the location of his workplace, ongoing projects and certain details related to the organization where he worked," HRANA added.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee
51 more people killed by Israeli strikes, Lebanese ministry says
The death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon since March 2 rose to 2,846 people as of the Ministry of Public Health's latest update on Sunday, with 8,693 people also reported as wounded.
Sunday's figure showed 51 additional deaths from Israeli strikes since the previous update on Saturday. The continued Israeli attacks come despite a ceasefire agreed by Israeli and Lebanese leaders last month.
Hezbollah -- the Iranian-aligned Lebanese militia -- on Monday claimed fresh attacks on Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon.