US launches seventh night of Iran strikes as Hormuz conflict escalates | Iran

The US military said it launched an attack on Iran for the seventh consecutive night as clashes escalated in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night.

The attacks, which began at 19:00 GMT, were designed to “continue to disrupt Iran’s military capabilities,” US Central Command said in a post on channel X.

Iranian state television reported that at least seven people were killed in a US airstrike on bridges in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province early Friday. The bridges were an important crossing point for Iran’s main port, Bandar Abbas. US airstrikes brought down a tower at Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman; The US military claimed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used it to facilitate attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The US also targeted key electrical infrastructure and Iranshahr airport.

Iran’s Ministry of Energy told citizens to reduce their use of electricity and air conditioning after the electricity grid was strained due to US attacks on energy facilities. The ministry said regions in the south were experiencing “extreme heat and attacks on energy infrastructure” as temperatures rose.

Human rights experts have said attacks on civilian infrastructure not used for military purposes could constitute war crimes.

Iranian health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said at least 38 people were killed and more than 400 injured in Iran as of Friday morning in renewed US attacks.

The attacks appeared to be a continuation of Donald Trump’s promise to expand attacks on Iran, including targeting infrastructure and power plants. The US president reportedly met with senior department heads this week to discuss an expanded air campaign to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The current round of fighting has entered its seventh day, further undermining an interim agreement between Iran and the United States that aims to keep the strait open and make room for negotiations that would lead to a permanent ceasefire. Iran closed the strait and the United States reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports and ships on Wednesday.

Following the US attacks on Friday, the Revolutionary Guard threatened that a “devastating price” would be paid to countries hosting US bases if America’s attacks on infrastructure continued.

“The enemy of America and those who host its bases in the region must know that crossing red lines and attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure will pay a very heavy and devastating price,” the Revolutionary Guard said in a statement.

The Iranian army responded to the US attacks by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman and Qatar. Qatar, one of the mediators between the United States and Iran, was largely spared from Iranian retaliation in the recent violence. Qatari officials said a child was injured by falling debris while air defenses intercepted the missiles.

In Kuwait, officials said Iranian strikes hit an energy and desalination plant and damaged a water plant. The country relies on desalinated water for approximately 90% of its drinking water. Officials said they were working to assess the damage and get the facility operational again.

The renewed fighting has focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war provided about one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies. Although the memorandum of understanding signed by the USA and Iran last month said that the strait should be open to traffic, both sides interpreted the agreement differently.

Washington and Tehran have developed rival plans to pass ships through the strait, with Iran attacking some ships using the US route. Shipping on the waterway has been greatly reduced in the past few days due to the escalation of violence, but most ships that continue to transit have used the Iranian route.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency later quoted an informed source as saying that a Thai-flagged ship was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday after allegedly ignoring warnings and trying to pass without permission from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard navy.

Iranian state media also said the US hit an empty oil tanker docked on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the strait.

The US military said American forces boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday as part of a renewed blockade of Iranian ports that began earlier this week. US Central Command also said it had “directed” three commercial ships “attempting to enforce the blockade” since it came into force at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday. The previous day, a US plane neutralized an unloaded oil tanker that was trying to break through the blockade by opening fire.

Iran has asked its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, to be prepared to block the oil route through the Red Sea if the United States targets Iran’s energy infrastructure, Reuters reported; This is a threat that, if carried out, could cripple the global energy market.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi also threatened that all Saudi oil and other critical facilities could be targeted by the group if Riyadh intervenes in Yemen. The threat came after Saudi Arabia struck Sanaa airport, prompting Houthis to launch retaliatory missile attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Week-to-week cargo shipments through the Strait of Hormuz fell by almost a quarter at the start of the month, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. And that was before the recent uptick in tit-for-tat attacks.

Lloyd’s said on Thursday that, given the risks, some oil shippers had passed through 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.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry acknowledged that efforts to bring the United States and Tehran to the negotiating table were still ongoing but that it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Despite the escalating conflict and disruption to trade, Trump said the war was going well for the United States. In his speech to the American public, Trump said, “We are making the same big profit in Iran, and you will see the fruits of this labor very, very soon.”

Associated Press and France-Presse Agency contributed to this report