The United States widened its air campaign against Iran, striking bridges and port infrastructure as the two countries’ showdown over the Strait of Hormuz deepens. The Pentagon’s regional command said the latest barrage targeted sites tied to surveillance, logistics, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities, according to the Associated Press and Fox News’ live updates. The strikes came hours after a reported attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.
Damage extended beyond strictly military targets, Iranian officials said. Iran’s state media reported U.S. strikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in southern Hormozgan province and damaged facilities on Qeshm Island inside the strait, cutting water service to residents, the Associated Press reported. AP also cited Iranian accounts that overnight blasts damaged infrastructure including tunnels and a bridge along a main route toward Bandar Abbas, the country’s primary port near the chokepoint.
Bridges were also hit around Bandar Khamir on the Strait of Hormuz, and separate strikes collapsed a tower at Chabahar, a key port on the Gulf of Oman, the Washington Post reported. Iran described the tower as overseeing commercial traffic; U.S. Central Command said it was part of a maritime surveillance network used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to “track and target” ships. The Post said the U.S. military later confirmed the tower strike.
The Pentagon says the intensified campaign is meant to reduce Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping through the narrow waterway, which accounted for a significant share of global oil supplies before the war, the Associated Press reported. Fox News’ live blog, citing Central Command, added that U.S. forces are enforcing a naval blockade and have redirected commercial vessels and disabled a ship while patrolling the region.
The latest strikes followed reports of American casualties. The Associated Press reported U.S. service members were killed, missing and hospitalized in an attack in Jordan. Outlets have reported differing totals for U.S. military casualties since the war began; Iranian authorities have also provided varying figures for deaths and injuries inside Iran from recent U.S. strikes.
The fighting continues to spill across borders. The Post reported that Iran launched missiles toward Qatar, prompting shelter warnings, and also targeted Bahrain and Kuwait. Separately, AP noted that Jordan and Iraq said they intercepted incoming Iranian missiles and drones. Shipping through Hormuz has slowed, and outlets reported oil prices rose as transits fell, underscoring how quickly the conflict can ripple into global markets.
Why it matters
The more the U.S. and Iran trade blows at bridges and ports, the higher the risk of a wider regional war — and the greater the chance that oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz get disrupted. That can lift gasoline prices, complicate supply chains, and rattle retirement accounts tied to energy and shipping. It also raises the odds of miscalculation, with more countries and commercial vessels pulled into the crossfire.