The United States expanded its air campaign against Iran for a seventh consecutive night, striking bridges, a railway station, an airport and a surveillance tower at the port of Chabahar, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Iranian state media. CENTCOM said the operations, which began at 19:00 GMT on Friday, were designed to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities” and included the destruction of a tower that it said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had used for decades to track and target commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s IRGC separately claimed that two oil tankers exploded after hitting mines in the strait, blaming “deceptive American intelligence agencies” for directing them into a minefield; CENTCOM dismissed the claim as false. The US also said it was strictly enforcing a renewed naval blockade on Iranian ports, having redirected four commercial vessels, disabled one and boarded another since the blockade was reimposed.

Viewed from Washington, the strikes are a calibrated escalation intended to pressure Tehran to reopen the strategic waterway and return to negotiations. A White House spokesperson told the BBC that US forces had “carried out strikes exclusively on military targets, including military logistics infrastructure,” rejecting Iranian accusations that civilian sites were hit. From Tehran, however, senior military advisor to the supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei warned that if US attacks continued for another two or three days, Iran would enter “a phase of full-scale offensive operations” and that “no political border will be safe.” Iranian state media reported that IRGC forces had retaliated by striking US military assets across the region, including radar systems and aircraft in Qatar, a drone depot and an artificial intelligence centre in Bahrain, and bases in Kuwait and Jordan. The IRGC also claimed to have attacked the al-Tanf garrison in Syria, though CENTCOM said no US service members had been killed or captured there.

The widening exchange of fire has drawn in several Gulf states. Kuwait’s electricity ministry said an Iranian attack damaged a power generation and water desalination plant, causing a fire and disrupting units, while the military reported that several soldiers were wounded when drones struck bases and camps. Qatar’s interior ministry said a child was injured by falling debris after air defences intercepted missiles, and Jordan’s armed forces announced they had shot down three Iranian missiles. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally transits, remained effectively closed, with shipping traffic at a three-week low and benchmark Brent crude rising above $86 a barrel. The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, expressed concern about global energy supplies if the situation does not improve in the coming weeks.

The conflict began on 28 February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which responded by closing the strait and launching attacks on Israel and American interests across the Gulf. A temporary ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding signed in June collapsed on 7 July after Iran struck ships in the strait and the US retaliated. Mediation efforts by China and Pakistan have called for both sides to halt hostilities and resume talks, but no new negotiations are scheduled. The US has more than 50,000 troops deployed across the Middle East, and CENTCOM said forces remain “vigilant, lethal and ready” to carry out further operations. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, expressed deep concern over the escalation, particularly attacks on civilian infrastructure, and called for restraint.