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The US widened its air campaign by striking bridges in southern Iran as Tehran fired missiles at Gulf states. The exchanges have collapsed the ceasefire, deepened the Strait of Hormuz crisis and raised pressure on global energy flows.
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Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 17, 2026 07:16 IST
The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday, increasingly targeting bridges as President Donald Trump stepped up threats to hit infrastructure in a bid to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with fresh missile attacks on US-allied nations in the Middle East and warned that its strikes would intensify.
In Qatar, authorities asked people to take shelter as a barrage of Iranian missiles targeted the country. Explosions were heard overhead as air defences tried to intercept the missiles. Iran had earlier targeted Bahrain and Kuwait after overnight US airstrikes hit bridges in the Islamic Republic.
The interim ceasefire agreed last month has now collapsed, and the region has seen days of back-and-forth attacks by the US and Iran as they fight over control of the strait. Iranian officials said US strikes have killed more than 35 people and injured over 300 others, with more casualties reported in Friday's attacks. When the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, pushing up oil prices and giving Iran major leverage in negotiations.
Qatar is a key mediator with Pakistan in efforts to end the Iran war, but talks have broken down over Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned that Iran could launch broad attacks on "all the infrastructure in the region" if the US acted on Trump's repeated warnings that America could strike Iranian bridges and power plants. "Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz," he said. "This is Iran's invincible red line."
Overnight into Friday, US airstrikes hit bridges in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, killing at least seven people, Iranian state television reported. The strikes hit Bandar Khamir, a city on Iran's coast on the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media also said US strikes on Thursday hit areas around Tehran and Semnan province, which is home to Iran's ballistic missile production and space programme.
Trump has in recent days renewed his threats to target Iranian power stations and bridges to try to force Iran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The US has also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to stop crude oil shipments. According to maritime data firm Lloyd's List Intelligence, week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait fell by almost a quarter at the start of the month, even before the latest surge in tit-for-tat attacks. Lloyd's said on Thursday that some oil shippers were moving through the strait with their location devices switched off because of the risks, while many others were staying put. It added that although more of the region's energy is now being moved through pipelines, that is still far from enough to make up for the fall in shipping through the strait.
The US military's Central Command said on X that American forces redirected three commercial vessels that tried to breach the blockade, disabled one that did not comply, and boarded another "to ensure full compliance". The latest exchanges underline the widening US-Iran confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz, with both sides escalating attacks as efforts to restore a truce remain stalled.
With PTI Inputs
- Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jul 17, 2026 07:16 IST
