Pentagon sought fresh supply of 13 critical minerals day before Iran attack

The U.S. military asked mining companies on Friday to help boost domestic supplies of 13 critical minerals used to make semiconductors, weapons and other products, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

The request, the day before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, is the latest example in recent weeks of Washington’s push for more access to the materials used widely in warfare.

The Pentagon asked members of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC), a group of more than 1,500 companies...