US and Iran widen strikes as Hormuz battle disrupts Gulf shipping

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 18, 2026 03:02 IST

The United States and Iran stepped up attacks across the Middle East on Friday, with Washington striking Iranian infrastructure and military-linked sites and Tehran firing missiles at US-allied countries including Qatar and Kuwait. The fighting has increasingly centred on control of the Strait of Hormuz, and the collapse of an interim ceasefire has left no clear end in sight to the war that began more than four months ago.

The US has widened its campaign after President Donald Trump threatened to pressure Tehran to loosen its grip on the vital waterway, through which global energy supplies move. Iran had effectively closed the strait to shipping after the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, pushing up oil prices and strengthening Tehran's hand in negotiations. Oil rose above USD 86 a barrel on Friday, close to a one-month high, as crossings through the strait fell to a three-week low, according to an international shipping tracker. In an address on Thursday evening, Trump said, "We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly." Before the war, the US and Iran had been holding talks over Tehran's nuclear programme, and Trump is now under political pressure to end the conflict and avoid a prolonged war in the Middle East.

Iranian state television said US airstrikes overnight into Friday hit bridges in Bandar Khamir in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, on the Strait of Hormuz. The highway and railway bridges appeared to have been targeted to cut off Bandar Abbas, Iran's main port, from routes leading to the country's central region and on to Tehran. Iran also acknowledged "attacks on power infrastructure" during the US air campaign for the first time, as its Energy Ministry urged people in southern provinces "experiencing extreme heat" to reduce electricity use, though it did not say which facilities had been hit.

Iranian authorities said at least 46 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded in recent US strikes, including eight people killed in a bridge strike on Friday. The US military, which said late Friday that it had carried out its seventh straight night of attacks aimed at weakening Iran's military, also acknowledged that 13 more US service members - 10 Army soldiers and three Navy sailors - had been injured since Monday. Since the war began, 14 US service members have been killed and 427 wounded.

US Central Command said Friday's strikes hit dozens of military and military infrastructure targets. The attacks brought down a tower at Iran's Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, and the US military later confirmed this. Chabahar, which Iran had been operating with support from India, has repeatedly been targeted in American strikes. Iran said the tower oversaw commercial traffic into the port, while Central Command said it was part of a maritime surveillance network used by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to "track and target" commercial vessels in the strait.

Iran responded by launching missiles at Qatar, where authorities twice warned people to take shelter. Explosions were heard overhead as air defences tried to intercept the missiles, and Qatar's Interior Ministry said falling debris wounded a child. Qatar, along with Pakistan, has been acting as a key mediator in efforts to end the war. Iran also targeted Bahrain and Kuwait early on Friday. In Kuwait, authorities said a power and water desalination plant was hit, causing widespread damage. About 90 per cent of the country's drinking water comes from desalination, and officials said the fire had been put out while work was under way to assess the damage and restore operations.

Jordan's military said it intercepted three incoming missiles launched by Iran on Friday morning. In northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, explosions were also heard in Irbil and Sulaymaniyah as air defences responded to incoming fire. The attack appeared to target the Iranian Kurdish dissident group Komala, killing at least nine people and wounding others, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The latest round of strikes showed how the conflict has spread across the region, with the US pressing attacks on Iranian infrastructure and military-linked targets and Iran striking allied countries while the battle over the Strait of Hormuz deepens.

With PTI Inputs

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