The US launched a wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth night in a row, its military said, as the two sides battled over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran said the strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including bridges, a train station and an airport. BBC Verify confirmed an attack on one bridge to the west of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it retaliated by striking US maritime surveillance radar sites in Oman as well as targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. It also claimed to have attacked a US special operations command centre in Syria. Kuwaiti authorities said the Iranian strikes hit power generation and water desalination stations, causing damage and fires. Jordan's military said it shot down three Iranian missiles with no casualties.
“US strikes Iran for sixth night; Iran says civilian bridges hit; Strait of Hormuz shut; IEA warns on energy.”
In Iraqi Kurdistan, eight people were killed in the city of Sulaymaniyah, with Kurdish forces blaming Iran. Separately, eight drones were shot down over Erbil, with no casualties reported. As attacks escalate, the Strait of Hormuz has remained shut, impacting global oil supplies. The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said: 'We should be worried, and I am worried, if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks.'
Speaking in a primetime address, US President Donald Trump insisted the war was going well: 'We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.' US Central Command said the strikes were intended to 'further degrade Iranian military capabilities', before saying it had boarded a vessel as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.
Seven people were killed when the US struck bridges in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state television reported. The attacks hit Bandar Khamir, a city on the coast. The highway and railway bridge strikes appeared aimed at cutting off Bandar Abbas from roads leading to Tehran. The strikes also collapsed a tower at Iran's Chabahar port, according to state-run IRNA news agency. Iran acknowledged attacks on power infrastructure for the first time on Friday, with its Energy Ministry calling for reduced power use in southern provinces due to 'extreme heat and attacks on power infrastructure.'
On Friday, the Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers called for the US and Iran to stop fighting and resume negotiations. Javier Blas, an energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, said Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz would weaken over time.
