Bahrain and Kuwait face Iranian fire as US airstrikes expand to target more bridges

Dubai, Jul 17 (AP) Bahrain and Kuwait faced incoming Iranian fire early Friday as US airstrikes expanded to target more bridges in the Islamic Republic. Both countries, which host US forces, have faced repeated rounds of fire in recent days as an interim deal to try to end the Iran war has collapsed over fighting sparked by activity in the Strait of Hormuz. In Iran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday that at least three people had been killed in US airstrikes targeting bridges in southern Hormozgan province. On Thursday, the United States intensified its strikes against Iran on, hitting targets farther north and firing into a ship the US accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones at US allies in the region. The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks by the US and Iran as they battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials say US strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others. For the first time in this latest round of violence, strikes also reached into areas around Iran's capital, Tehran, showing a widening set of targets for the Americans. The US launched a second wave of strikes late Thursday, saying it was aiming to “further degrade” Iran's military capabilities. When the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price of oil soaring and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, threatened that Iran could launch widespread attacks on “all the infrastructure in the region” if the US acts on President Donald Trump 's repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants. “Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added. “This is Iran's invincible red line.” Both the US and Iran launch attacks as blockade is reimposed Iranian state media said the US strikes Thursday hit around Tehran and Semnan province, home to Iran's ballistic missile production and space program. State media also reported strikes around the provinces of Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as on Iran's Qeshm island, near the Strait of Hormuz. Seven people were wounded in a US strike that hit the Allah-Akbar Hill residential neighbourhood in the port city of Bandar Abbas, according to Iranian state media. Two more people were wounded in a US attack on the Bandar Abbas railway junction station, state media said. And just west of Bandar Abbas, witnesses reported that two bridges were struck in a US attack, killing three people and wounding nine others, state media said. An attack on Greater Tunb Island targeted Iranian defense and missile sites, US Central Command said. Greater Tunb Island is one of three small rocky islands that sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the strait. The islands — seized in 1971 by Iran from what would become the United Arab Emirates — help the Islamic Republic exert significant control over the strait. The US military also said it disabled a Curacao-flagged oil tanker as it sailed toward Iran's main oil export terminal, firing a missile after the ship “ignored multiple warnings.” Iran retaliated Thursday with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, authorities in those countries home to US forces said. There was no immediate acknowledgment of damage or casualties from the attacks. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned an overnight drone attack in Iraq's semiautonomous northern Kurdish region. The drone, which authorities said had been intercepted, came during his trip to the US in which he said Iraq would work to disarm non-state armed groups, including those backed by Iran. Trump says a peace deal is still possible The latest round of fighting is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran attacks ships using a US-controlled route through the vital waterway. Week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait dropped by almost a quarter at the beginning of the month, according to Maritime data firm Lloyd's List Intelligence. And that was before the recent surge in tit-for-tat attacks. Given the risks, some oil shippers are transiting the strait with their location devices turned off, but many are just staying put, Lloyd's said Thursday. US forces have redirected three commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled one that did not comply and boarded another “to ensure full compliance," US Central Command said in a post on X. “The Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding waters remain free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate America's steel wall blockade,” the post said. The US has threatened to reopen the strait by force, but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops. The US reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports Wednesday. (AP) DIV DIV