The United States launched a fresh wave of military strikes against Iran for a sixth consecutive night, escalating the conflict as Tehran accused Washington of targeting civilian infrastructure and expanded its retaliatory attacks across the Middle East.
The latest strikes came as fighting over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz intensified, with both countries exchanging military attacks while global concerns mounted over oil supplies and regional stability.
US Central Command (Centcom) said the overnight operation was intended to further degrade Iranian military capabilities, adding that American forces also boarded a vessel as part of the renewed blockade of Iranian ports.
Iranian state media, however, alleged that the US attacks struck civilian facilities, including bridges, a railway station and an airport. Reports verified damage to one bridge west of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.
Centcom said “its forces targeted dozens of Iranian military targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities” but did not mention civilian structures.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it responded by striking US maritime surveillance radar sites in Oman as well as military targets in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The IRGC also claimed responsibility for an attack on a US special operations command centre at al-Tanf in Syria, describing it as retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers earlier this week. Neither Washington nor Syrian authorities immediately commented on the claim.
Jordan’s military later announced it intercepted three Iranian missiles without casualties or damage, while Kurdish security forces in Iraq said they shot down eight drones over Erbil.
The confrontation has kept the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed after Iran moved to block the strategic waterway following earlier US-Israeli strikes.
The disruption has heightened concerns over global energy supplies, with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warning: “We should be worried, and I am worried, if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks.”
Iranian state media reported that seven people were killed in the latest US strikes, while the country’s health ministry said at least 38 people had died and more than 400 others had been injured since the latest phase of fighting began.
Centcom also disclosed that US Marines boarded an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as part of Washington’s renewed maritime blockade, saying forces had redirected 3 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade.
The military added that previous blockade operations between April and June had disabled nine ships and redirected more than 140 vessels.
Despite the escalating hostilities, the White House maintained that diplomatic channels remain open.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “The president will hold them accountable when they turn their back on the words that they state to the United States. But he is always open to diplomacy at the very same time.”
“We’re talking to them, but again, the president is not going to allow them to fire on ships in the strait without paying a consequence for that.”
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, insisted Tehran had no reason to honour any agreement that failed to benefit the country, adding that Iran’s national security depended on maintaining what he described as Iranian arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest escalation came despite a brief sign of possible diplomatic progress after President Donald Trump thanked Iran for releasing US detainee Dena Karari, writing that “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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