US conducts seventh night of strikes on Iran as Hormuz shipping halts
Washington targets military infrastructure while Tehran reports casualties and infrastructure damage; Kuwait confirms drone attacks on its soil.
The US military has launched its seventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, intensifying hostilities as diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire remain stalled. US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed the operations are directed by the Commander in Chief to degrade Iranian military capabilities, following President Donald Trump’s declaration that a temporary ceasefire agreement was "over" one week ago.
The strikes have caused significant disruption to global energy supplies, with commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz largely ceasing. In normal conditions, this waterway transports approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Iranian media reported explosions near the strait, in the central city of Yazd, and at Qeshm island and the port of Bandar Abbas.
Tensions escalated further after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed two oil tankers had exploded in a mined section of the strait. Centcom swiftly dismissed the assertion as false, posting on X that the claim was inconsistent with verified intelligence. The US maintains that its operations have targeted exclusively military assets, including logistics infrastructure, denying Tehran’s allegations that civilian sites such as bridges, train stations, and airports were struck.
Despite US denials, provincial authorities in Iran’s Hormozgan province reported seven fatalities resulting from the attacks. Footage verified by BBC Verify and BBC Persian showed significant damage to the Gariveh Bridge, including a crumbled roadway and rubble surrounding the structure, contradicting Washington’s insistence that no civilian infrastructure was affected.
Iran’s armed forces claimed retaliatory strikes against US facilities across the Gulf, including in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Syria for the first time. Kuwaiti officials confirmed that Iranian drone attacks injured soldiers and damaged critical infrastructure, including a power plant and water desalination stations. Additionally, sources told CBS News that several American service members were injured during attacks on two Jordanian bases over the past week, a claim the US has not independently verified but which underscores the regional spread of the conflict.
