By Timour Azhari and Parisa Hafezi

RIYADH/DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said.

The Saudi attacks, not previously reported, mark the first time that the kingdom is known to have directly carried out military action on Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself against its main regional rival.

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will have a long talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the war in Iran during his upcoming trip to China, but added that he does not think he needs Xi's help.

"I don't think we need any help with Iran. We'll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise," Trump told reporters when departing the White House for China.

By Marwa Rashad and Ahmed Rasheed

LONDON/BAGHDAD, May 12 (Reuters) - Both Iraq and Pakistan have cut deals with Iran to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the Gulf, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter, in a demonstration of Tehran's ability to control energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it would contribute autonomous mine-hunting equipment, Typhoon fighter jets and the warship HMS Dragon to a multinational defensive mission aimed at securing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Defence minister John Healey announced the commitment during a virtual summit with more than 40 of his counterparts from other nations involved in the mission, which he said would become operational when conditions allowed.

By Shariq Khan and Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy's statistical arm on Tuesday said it assumes that the Strait of Hormuz will be effectively shut through late May and traffic will resume gradually from next month, prompting the agency to hike its forecasts for U.S. motor fuel prices.

Hollywood should be ashamed of the way it has treated stars like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo for opposing Israel's war in Gaza, a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury said Tuesday, with big studios conspicuously absent this year.

Paul Laverty, who wrote two films that won Cannes' top prize, was cheered as he lambasted the studios and praised the French festival for using an image of Sarandon in "Thelma and Louise" for its poster this year.

By Feras Dalatey

DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters) - Trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria more than doubled in 2025 and has further to grow, a UAE minister said on Tuesday, addressing a Damascus investment forum that signalled rapidly warming ties between the states.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told the first Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum that non-oil trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria reached a record $1.4 billion in 2025, up 132% from the previous year. He said the increase opens prospects for expanding bilateral trade.

The Pentagon said Tuesday the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as President Donald Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict and its impact on US military readiness.

The figure, revealed during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion higher than the department's previous estimate given two weeks ago.

Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine and Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III were asked about the war's price tag during testimony on the administration's $1.5 trillion 2027 defense budget request.

Iran's leadership is betting it can outlast an under-pressure Donald Trump in its peace negotiations with Washington, but its defiance risks renewed military confrontation and further stoking domestic tensions, analysts say.

With a shaky ceasefire holding almost two-and-a-half months after the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic began, the US president has angrily dismissed Iran's responses to a US proposal for a settlement, warning the truce is on its last legs.

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - The United States' war in Iran has ​cost $29 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, an increase of $4 billion from an estimate provided late last month.

Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the ​comptroller, told lawmakers that the cost included updated repair and replacement of equipment and operational costs.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Doina Chiacu)