Trump threatens Iran bridges, power as payback for Hormuz attacks

US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to knock out one Iranian bridge or power plant in return for each attack on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, warning he was "not finished" with a war that has already cost Washington $37.5 billion.

Fighting over the strait led to the collapse of a preliminary deal between the United States and Iran, and Tehran has reimposed its blockade on the strategic conduit for oil and gas shipments, firing on vessels that seek to transit.

The blockade has rattled markets and sent oil prices climbing, adding to the pressure on Trump to find an off-ramp to a conflict that has hit Americans' pocketbooks heading into closely-fought midterm elections.

"Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT," Trump wrote on social media, reiterating his longstanding threat to go after Iranian infrastructure.

But top US diplomat Marco Rubio maintained Washington is still willing to find a negotiated agreement with Tehran.

"We remain open to working it out in a negotiated way. But right now, they don't seem to be serious about that," Rubio said at a Southeast Asia ministers' meeting in Manila.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had previously said that diplomatic exchanges with Washington through mediators were continuing.

On Wednesday afternoon, a US missile hit Larak island in the strait, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported, saying the extent of the damage was being investigated.

Trump has faced intense political pressure to end the conflict, which is unpopular even with segments of his political base as it nears its five-month mark.

Critics have pointed to the cost, which Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday had soared to $37.5 billion, defending a request for tens of billions in additional funding for the military.

But Trump himself has so far bucked the pressure, saying on Tuesday: "We're not finished at all... we're not leaving right now."

Pickaxe Mountain

The US military said it had launched an eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying it targeted military sites to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".

Trump had said earlier that the next US target could be an underground complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, or Kolang in Persian, a site near Natanz where Western intelligence agencies suspect Iran is building an undeclared nuclear enrichment facility.

Iran threatened reprisals, with the Khatam Al-Anbiya military command saying it would "consider it as an expansion of war" if such an attack were carried out, threatening strikes on "all the interests of America, the allies and supporters", the state broadcaster reported.

Foreign ministry spokesman Baqaei, meanwhile, insisted that "Washington's obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage".

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told the BBC that inspectors "should be there already" in reference to Iran, saying it was important that the IAEA check on Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.