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Seventh Night Strikes
The U.S. and Iran escalated their conflict over the Strait of Hormuz into a seventh day, with CENTCOM announcing that it “launched a round of strikes against Iran at 3 p.m. ET today for the seventh consecutive night.”
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NBC News said the attacks targeted bridges and other key infrastructure in southern Iran overnight into Friday, aiming to intensify pressure on Tehran to give up control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had stopped the passage of four ships through the Strait of Hormuz with a “combined missile and drone operation,” according to a statement posted on Telegram by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
The BBC reported that the U.S. denied Iranian accusations that it hit civilian infrastructure, with a White House spokesperson telling the BBC the U.S. had “carried out strikes exclusively on military targets, including military logistics infrastructure.”
Claims, Denials, and Warnings
The BBC said Iranian state media and provincial authorities reported that bridges, a train station and an airport were hit, while BBC Verify confirmed an attack on a bridge in Hormozgan province.
In response to the latest U.S. attacks, the IRGC said it had struck US maritime surveillance radar sites in Oman and targets in Kuwait and Bahrain, and it also claimed to have attacked a US special operations command centre at al-Tanf in Syria.
CNN reported that Mohsen Rezaei, a top IRGC official and military adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned the US could face a “full-scale offensive” if the US persisted with military strikes through the weekend.
CNN also said the US Central Command told it that Iran’s earlier claim that two oil tankers were damaged after hitting mines was false, writing “Like most IRGC claims, this is false.”
Regional Stakes and Fallout
NBC News said the escalation included Tehran hitting back with new attacks on U.S. allies in the Middle East, including a first direct attack on a Syrian base and a strike on water infrastructure in Kuwait.
“US denies Iranian claims it hit civilian infrastructure in latest strikes The US has denied Iranian accusations that it hit civilian infrastructure in the latest wave of air strikes since peace talks collapsed”
The BBC reported that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about escalation, particularly over “attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region,” his spokesperson said on Friday.
ABC7 Los Angeles reported that Kuwait’s water and electricity ministry said one of its power and water desalination plants had been targeted, resulting in a fire and damage to several power generation units.
The Washington Post said the U.S. struck bridges, energy infrastructure and a port facility in southern Iran overnight Friday, while Kuwaiti authorities said Iranian attacks hit a power and desalination plant, as the sixth consecutive day of U.S. strikes continued.
