U.S. Attacks Bridges, Collapses Tower At Key Iranian Port

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States expanded its air strike campaign against Iran early Friday, hitting more bridges, electrical equipment and destroying a tower at a major Iranian port; This was part of US President Donald Trump’s threat to begin striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has launched new missile attacks against US allies in the Middle East, including Qatar, a key mediator in the war.

A temporary ceasefire agreed last month collapsed and the region endured days of mutual attacks by the United States and Iran as they battle for control of the strait. Iranian officials say the US strikes have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more, with new casualties reported in Friday’s attacks.

When the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to ship traffic; This caused oil prices to rise and gave Iran a huge advantage in negotiations.

Speaking in his first speech to the American public, Trump insisted that the war was going well.

“We’re making just as big a profit in Iran, and you’ll see the fruits of that labor very, very soon,” Trump said.

Iranian state television reported that at least seven people were killed in a US airstrike on bridges in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province on Friday. The attacks hit the Iranian city of Bandar Khamir on the Strait of Hormuz.

It emerged that the road and rail bridge attacks were aimed at cutting off Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port, from roads leading to the Islamic Republic’s central region and the capital Tehran.

While other routes remain open, U.S. strikes could expand further, potentially disrupting the movement of military supplies and goods needed for Iran’s 90 million people.

Iran also acknowledged “attacks on energy infrastructure” during a US airstrike campaign for the first time on Friday, when its Energy Ministry called on people in its southern provinces to use less energy.

It said these regions “are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on energy infrastructure.” The ministry did not provide detailed information on whether those attacked were power plants, transmission lines or other equipment.

Such attacks on energy infrastructure have been suspected for days. Tehran city councilor Mehdi Chamran asked reporters on Tuesday about electricity problems: “Look at how many power plants they hit… and you wouldn’t ask this question.”

The US military’s Central Command said it hit dozens of targets in the latest airstrikes that ended at dawn on Friday, the sixth night of a series of American strikes.

The attacks also caused the collapse of a tower at Iran’s Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, a key trade route for landlocked neighbor Afghanistan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared the image of the watchtower collapsing as part of the effort to maintain American control over the strait. This image was spread through activists on social media before Hegseth’s post.

Chabahar port, operated by Iran with the support of India, has been the target of American air strikes many times. Iranian state media confirmed a third round of attacks on the facility, without immediately acknowledging the tower’s collapse.

Iran stated that the tower will monitor commercial traffic to the port. But Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also operates in ports across the country.

At least 38 people were killed and more than 400 injured in US strikes in Iran as of 6 a.m. Friday, Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said.

On Friday, Qatar twice warned the public to take shelter as Iranian missiles targeted the country. People heard explosions overhead as air defenses fired to intercept the missiles. Qatar’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said falling debris injured a child.

Qatar, together with Pakistan, is an important mediator in ending the Iran war. However, negotiations regarding Iran taking control of the Strait of Hormuz ended in failure.

Iran also targeted Bahrain and Kuwait early Friday. The Jordanian military said it had intercepted three missiles launched by Iran on Friday morning.

On Friday morning, explosions were also heard in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Northern Iraq as air defenses targeted incoming fire. The attack apparently targeted the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Komala, killing at least nine people and wounding others, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Although Iran did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, it had targeted Komala in the past.

Also on Friday, the British military said a tanker following the closest route to Oman through the Strait of Hormuz was attacked.

In the report of the UK Merchant Marine Operations centre, it was stated that none of the crew was injured and the ship suffered minor damage.

Iran has been attacking tankers traveling on the route near Oman but did not immediately acknowledge any attack.

Trump has in recent days returned to threats to target Iranian power plants and bridges in an attempt to force Iran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and gas trade passes in peacetime. The United States also reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports to stop crude oil shipments.

Week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait fell by almost a quarter at the beginning of the month, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. And that was before the recent increase in violence.

Lloyd’s said on Thursday that, given the risks, some oil carriers were transiting the strait with location devices turned off, but many remained where they were. An increasing share of the region’s energy is transported by pipelines, but this is not enough to compensate for the decline in transportation through the Bosphorus.

U.S. forces redirected three merchant ships attempting to breach the blockade, disabling one that did not comply and boarding another.

Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Annika Wolters in Rayong, Thailand, and Stella Martany in Erbil, Iraq contributed to this report.