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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 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.
Oil prices climb after Trump rejects Iran proposal
Oil prices climbed after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposed peace deal as "totally unacceptable," with the U.S. and Iran still appearing far apart on any resolution to the war.
Oil was at nearly $98 a barrel -- up 2.5% -- in U.S. trading as of Monday morning, with global oil at $104, up nearly 3%.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas on Monday was $4.48, down 3.7 cents compared to Sunday and up $1.54 since the war started, according to GasBuddy.
-ABC News' Zunaira Zaki