The United States intensified its renewed bombing campaign against Iran on Friday, striking bridges and an airport, as Tehran retaliated with attacks on US military bases across the Middle East, further escalating the regional conflict.In the Strait of Hormuz, US Marines boarded a tanker while another vessel was reportedly hit by a projectile, underscoring growing threats to global energy supplies.Iranian state media said at least five bridges in southern Iran were hit in the strikes.Seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the southern port city of Bandar Khamir, where the railway station was also damaged, as cited by Reuters.Further east, an airport in Iranshahr, near the border with Pakistan, was also reported to have been struck.Iran has warned that it will target civilian infrastructure across the Middle East if US president Donald Trump follows through on his threat to strike Iranian infrastructure.US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not disclosed the targets of the strikes but said they were intended to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities”.While Iran and the United States have exchanged strikes daily over the past week, both sides have so far avoided expanding the conflict beyond the limits observed earlier in the war.Civilian infrastructure and major economic assets have largely been spared to avoid triggering a wider escalation.The United States has carried out air strikes on Iranian targets for a sixth consecutive night, as President Donald Trump threatened to target bridges and power stations to pressure Tehran into returning to negotiations to end the conflict that began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks.Iran has responded by striking Israeli and US targets, as well as American allies across the Gulf.An interim agreement to end the conflict collapsed on July 7 after Iran struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting US retaliatory air strikes.Iran has since announced the closure of the strategic waterway, while Washington has reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
