Iran Launches Fresh Attacks as U.S. Strikes Enter Sixth Night; Hormuz Traffic Halts Again

Early on Friday, Iran's military said it had struck U.S. facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. It was the latest exchange after a sixth consecutive night of American strikes on Iranian military sites. In Doha, a witness heard several explosion-like sounds, and Qatar's Ministry of the Interior said a child had been hurt by shrapnel. The truce agreed last month has now turned into daily attacks and counterattacks.

The U.S. military said it had finished another night of strikes meant, in its words, to further degrade Iranian military capabilities. Targets included Qeshm Island and the area near Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's largest port and to major navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities. U.S. Central Command said fighter jets, aerial drones and warships fired precision munitions at dozens of targets. These included coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities.

Iran has answered with missiles and drones aimed at U.S. bases in neighboring states, among them an air base in Jordan. Iranian media reported that the latest American strikes hit five bridges, the train station in the coastal town of Bandar Khamir, and Iranshahr Airport in the southeast. State news agency IRNA said seven people died in U.S. attacks on bridges in Bandar Khamir. Reuters could not immediately verify these reports.

The fighting has again largely stopped traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important shipping route for oil and gas, and global energy prices have risen. Tehran resumed its blockade of the strait, and from Wednesday Washington again blockaded Iranian ports. Last week Iran hit ships moving through a corridor in the strait. Sources told Reuters that Iran has signalled it could prod its Houthi allies in Yemen to close the Bab al-Mandeb, at the mouth of the Red Sea, if Washington attacks Iranian infrastructure.

The dispute centers on who controls the strait. Iran wants every ship to use a channel close to its shores, and it intends to charge passage fees once the 60-day negotiation period set in last month's memorandum of understanding ends. Washington has encouraged ships to take an alternative route to the south, along the Omani coast. U.S. forces say their strikes on coastal military targets are meant to cripple Iran's ability to control the strait. Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia answered on Thursday that this would fail, because Iran can strike the strait from anywhere on its territory.

Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran's aim is to establish its authority over the strait. They also said it is reluctant to escalate to the point of wrecking the June memorandum, which it still sees as giving it most of what it wanted.

In Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that President Donald Trump would not sit by while what she called active acts of terrorism continue in the strait without making Iran pay consequences. She added that he is always open to diplomacy at the same time. Trump has not ruled out ground forces, including a move to seize Kharg Island, site of Iran's main oil export terminal. He has repeated threats to hit Iranian power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.

Inside Iran, the renewed bombing has unsettled residents. Mahlegha, a 46-year-old government employee in Tehran, told Reuters that living with the fear of war starting again is exhausting, and that she wants diplomacy to prevail. The week ahead turns on Trump's deadline on power plants and bridges, and on whether either side moves back toward the table before the 60-day negotiation period runs out.