US and Iran face return to all-out war as conflict escalates | BBC News

After a tenth night in a row of military strikes involving Iranian and U .S.forces, it's difficult to maintain the idea the truce agreed last month between the two countries isn't now worthless.America says it wants to further degrade Iran's ability to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran says it's now fighting a full -scale war.Jeremy Bowen has this assessment of where the conflict might be heading.

The risk now is that the war explodes back to the intensity it reached in March.The diplomatic challenge is to find a way to short -circuit that, to de -escalate back to a point where the US and Iran can talk, not bomb.At the moment, it's not looking promising.Another front is opening up.Iran's ally in Yemen, the Houthis, are threatening to block the Bab al -Mandab Strait.That's the exit from the Red Sea that Saudi Arabia uses to export oil that Iran will not let through the Strait of Hormuz.

That could precipitate a new war between the Houthis and the Saudis and perhaps the Americans.

We've had no problem with the Houthis.They've had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict.I think that if there is something like that, we'll just have to take care of business.

Iran managed to hit an American base in Jordan, killing two US soldiers and wounding many more.that could be a sign that the U .S.is rationing its interceptor missiles as it has used so many.The U .S.

attacks on Iran resumed after negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz broke down.Iran blocked the Strait after the U .S.and Israel attacked it at the end of February.For the first few days, the Americansmostly hit ports and military bases along the coast, as well as what they said were missiles and drone launches.

After nearly a week with dozens of nightly airstrikes, they went after critical infrastructure also used by civilians, including bridges and transport networks.Then the U .S.attacked a nuclear power plant that's being built in Dakhovine that U .N.inspectors have said contained no nuclear material.

And in the last few days, the attacks have gone deeper inland, including military bases near Tehran, for the first time during this renewed offensive.Now, President Trump says the next target could be Pickax Mountain near Natanz, where the Israelis claim Iran has moved equipment it says could be used to make a nuclear weapon.On the shores of the blocked Strait of Hormuz, supporters of the Iranian regime staged a show of defiance.There is no sign that the new airstrikes will bring the Americans any closer to victory than five intense weeks of bombardment in March and April.New posters, as defiant as ever, have appeared in Tehran.In Islamabad, the Pakistani prime minister met an Iranian delegation.

Mediation by Pakistan and Qatar looks to be the only hope of de -escalating this crisis.America has the power to keep hitting Iran on its own.That is not forcing the regime to back down.More evidence that Donald Trump's huge gamble to go to war for an easy victory has failed.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News.Sarah Smith is in Washington for us now.Is the White House, Sarah, still maintaining that the memorandum of understanding, the truce with Iran, is still valid?

Well, Donald Trump hasn't said that the ceasefire is over, but he has said today that he is planning to escalate those attacks on Iran.He's said they haven't seen anything yet.And he made it clear that he's also planning to strike Pickax Mountain that was mentioned in Jeremy's report there pretty soon.The cost of the war at the same time is becoming clearer to America right now.We had the Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in Congress today asking for more than $80 billion in additional funding and admitting that the cost of the war to the US so far has been over $37 .5 billion and that's probably quite an underestimate.And tomorrow we're going to see Donald Trump attending the ceremony for the return of the remains of four US soldiers who were killed in Jordan at the weekend.

Americans are already tired of this war that's been pushing prices up, but they haven't had to contend with many American deaths yet, and that could change the dynamic.