According to the pro-government broadcaster Press TV, a total of three bridges were hit in the attacks (symbolic image).Image: keystone
The US military has bombed several bridges and an airport in Iran on the sixth consecutive night of attacks, according to media reports.
Jul 17, 2026, 01:42July 17, 2026, 05:41
The attacks on bridges were intended to interrupt supply routes to an Iranian naval base on the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a US official. In response, Iran again launched retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gulf states of Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, all of which are Washington’s allies.
At least seven people were killed in the US attacks on roads and bridges in the area of the port city of Bandar Khamir on the Persian Gulf, Iran’s pro-government broadcaster Press TV reported. At least nine other people were injured in the attacks in the southern Hormuzgan province. Iran’s UN ambassador declared that the US attacks on civilian infrastructure constituted war crimes. The US military, however, said that dozens of “military targets” had been hit with precision munitions, including anti-aircraft systems and radar systems for coastal surveillance.
US military: Weaken Iran’s military capabilities
The aim of the attacks was to “further weaken Iran’s military capabilities,” the responsible US military regional command (Centcom) said on X. They were now over, it was said early in the morning German time. The Iranian Fars news agency, citing official information, reported that, among other things, the Kahurestan and Gariveh bridges on traffic axes in Hormuzgan were hit.
The road between the port city of Bandar Abbas and the cities of Chamir and Lar was completely closed, as was a second connection in the region, it was said. The Kahurestan Bridge is located on the route that connects the port city of Bandar Abbas with the city of Shiraz further northwest and is considered an important route between the Persian Gulf coast and the southern interior of Iran, according to the US newspaper “New York Times”.
Report: Airport in Iran also hit
Bandar Abbas is home to a naval base of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard and is crucial to Iran’s ability to exercise power in the Strait of Hormuz, wrote the Wall Street Journal. According to Iranian state broadcaster Irib, the airport in Iranshahr in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan was also hit. According to Press TV, at least one bullet hit. The fires that broke out have now been extinguished, but the power supply at the airport has been interrupted, an Irib correspondent reported. There are no deaths.
According to Press TV, the Iranian army then announced that it had targeted a helicopter base and a US military reconnaissance aircraft in Bahrain in retaliatory strikes. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry had previously reported a siren alarm on X. In Kuwait, the anti-aircraft defense system was deployed due to rocket and drone fire, the army there said. US radar systems and missile launch pads were on fire there, reported the Iranian broadcaster Press TV. Accordingly, US facilities in Jordan are also said to have been targeted. The broadcaster’s information could not initially be checked.
In Qatar, according to the Ministry of the Interior there, a child was injured by falling debris while using anti-aircraft fire. The Gulf states had already come under fire from Iran in recent nights after the US military attacked Iran again.
Trump speaks of great successes in Iran
US President Donald Trump claimed in a speech to his nation that “great successes are being achieved in Iran, and you will see the fruits of this work very, very soon.” He didn’t say anything more about the conflict. On Wednesday he threatened Iran again with attacks on civilian infrastructure. Next week all power plants and bridges would be destroyed “unless they come to the negotiating table and negotiate,” he told Fox News.
On the same day, the Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf reaffirmed his country’s position in a statement partly read out on television that Iran claimed control over the strait, which is important for global trade in oil, gas and fertilizer. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, wrote on X that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has escalated again because of the dispute over the important strait. Ghalibaf left the door open for new negotiations. At the same time, he warned that one should not be afraid of asserting one’s own interests through military means.
US spokeswoman: Iran still interested in agreement
According to US government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, Tehran is still interested in an agreement with Washington. “Iran remains in close contact with the United States of America,” Leavitt told the capital’s press in Washington on Thursday. Leavitt justified the fact that the US military has been attacking targets in Iran for days with the behavior of the Iranian leadership. Trump will not stand idly by as Iran attacks ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the spokeswoman said.
The attacks come as the US is again enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The US military command Centcom published photos showing US marines boarding and searching a merchant ship. Since resuming the blockade earlier this week, the United States has diverted three ships and taken out another that failed to comply with orders, it said. (sda/dpa)