The United States military completed a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran early on Saturday, targeting what it described as surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities. In parallel, Iran launched retaliatory attacks against US allies across the Gulf, with Kuwaiti authorities reporting that a power generation and water desalination plant was struck, causing a fire and forcing the shutdown of multiple units. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said one of its oil facilities suffered significant damage and some injuries in what it called repeated Iranian attacks. Air traffic at Kuwait International Airport was temporarily suspended, and air-raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.

According to US Central Command, the latest wave of strikes employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones and warships and was carried out under the direction of President Donald Trump to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities. The Pentagon also confirmed it had reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and was intercepting vessels in the Gulf of Oman. Washington maintains that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to all shipping without tolls, as it was before the war, and disputes Iran’s interpretation of a preliminary ceasefire agreement signed in June that Tehran says grants it the right to manage traffic and charge fees.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that its strikes targeted US military support centres, radar installations and air bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, and warned that if American attacks continue for another two or three days, Tehran will resume “full-scale offensive operations” and no political border will be safe. Iranian state media reported that US strikes had hit bridges, a railway station and an airport in southern Iran, and that power and desalination facilities in the coastal city of Jask were damaged, cutting water supplies to some 10,000 people. The Iranian energy ministry urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours, while the health ministry said 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured since the renewed fighting began.

The escalation has driven oil prices up more than 4 percent to their highest level in over a month, with shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz falling to a three-week low. Viewed from European and Asian capitals, the widening scope of strikes on civilian-linked infrastructure—including desalination plants and power grids in both Iran and Kuwait—has deepened concerns about a protracted conflict that could further destabilise global energy markets. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed alarm over attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region, while mediators in Qatar and Pakistan have so far failed to bring the parties back to direct talks.

The current cycle of hostilities began after a June 25 Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship using an alternative route through the strait, which Tehran considers a violation of the interim deal. Since then, each side has accused the other of crossing red lines, and the preliminary agreement has effectively collapsed. With Washington signalling that strikes will continue until Iran agrees to negotiations on American terms, and Tehran conditioning any halt on an end to US operations against its coastal facilities, no new diplomatic initiative has been announced.