The US has begun targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, with the latest round of strikes hitting five bridges, power facilities and a train station in the South of Iran.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the southern Hormozgan province’s governorate said US air strikes have hit five bridges. The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure during war is considered a war crime by the United Nations. However, this has not deterred American President Donald Trump from announcing that his military would do so.
At least two people were killed and four injured by US strikes on the Garveh bridge, which connects Bandar Abbas to Khmeir.
On Thursday night, the US Army carried out major strikes on Iran for the sixth night in a row. By Friday morning, Iran had carried out retaliatory strikes on US bases in the Middle East, including, for the first time, a US base in Syria.
The US and Iran resumed missile and drone strikes after tension flared over Iranian attacks on commercial ships passing through the Strait. Iran attacked the ships for allegedly violating the MoU between Iran and the US, but the US also accused Iran of violating the MoU by attacking the ships.
The missile and drone strike by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Iran last Tuesday began a streak of missile exchanges between the two countries.
The Command, in a Friday morning post on X, said its precision munitions “hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defence sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities.”
However, Iran reported that the munitions also struck Lar, a bridge near the village of Latidan; two bridges on the Kahoorestan–Lar route; a partially constructed bridge connecting Bandar e-Khamir, Keshar, and Bandar Abbas; and a bridge in the village of Maru in the Khmeir district.
Some of the affected bridges have been closed or blocked, with provincial authorities warning the public against their use.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, threatened a US attack on Iran’s civilian infrastructure if there is no deal by next week.
He disclosed that the army was “going to knock out all their power plants…all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
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He had also previously threatened to denuclearise with or without a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While Iran, in response, stated that the transit corridor will not operate under US hostilities.
The Iranian Armed Forces spokesperson, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, also said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz can never return to its pre-war status.
He accused the US of destabilising the transit corridor out of its desperation to prevent Iran’s “sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
The US, he said, is “terrified” of Iran’s control over the strait.
“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to what it was before the 40-day war,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is offering a $10 million reward for the killing of US President Donald Trump.
Iran International reported that the group said the bounty was for Mr Trump’s “audacious and offensive statements” against commanders killed while fighting ISIS.