The US Department of Defence has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to the US Congress to fund the ongoing war against Iran in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported, citing a senior official from the White House. As soon as the news came to light, Iranian officials started mocking the United States for the mounting expenditures, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi firing the first shot at the US authorities for allegedly burdening their own citizens to serve an 'Israel-first' agenda.

"We're only three weeks into this war of choice, imposed on both Iranians and Americans. This $200b is the tip of the iceberg. Ordinary Americans can thank Benjamin Netanyahu and his lackeys in Congress for the trillion-dollar "Israel First tax" that's about to hit the US economy," Araghchi wrote on X, sharing a photo of the news.

This is not the first time Araghchi has taken a jibe at the United States for being involved in the war. In his interview with Al-Jazeera, a day before, Araghchi said that the US did not have a clear intention to join the war, and it was Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, who dragged the US into it. He indicated that US citizens are bearing the burden of the war because of the US authorities' 'Israel first' mentality.

Meanwhile, this morning, US President Donald Trump said that the US was not informed about Israel's operation on Iran's South Pars gas field. The escalation in the Middle East accelerated on Thursday (as per Indian standard time) after Israel launched air raids targeting the world's largest gas field. Iran soon retaliated by targeting several gas facilities in the Gulf neighbourhood.

As the development unfolded, Trump said that Israel would not launch any further attacks on South Pars. "Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran," he said in a post on Truth Social. "The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen," Trump said, distancing the US from the attacks.

Source: India Today