1st LD Writethru: U.S. forces strike Iran for 11th consecutive night

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. forces on Tuesday began striking military targets in Iran for the 11th consecutive night, the U.S. Central Command said.

The strikes, which began at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT), were "designed to continue degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the command said in a post on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier in the day that Washington has no interest in holding talks with Iran unless Tehran is prepared to engage in what he called "meaningful" negotiations.

The U.S. military will strike Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran "pretty soon," he said, referring to a fortified underground facility that Tehran declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2020 as the future site of an advanced centrifuge assembly plant. Enditem