US bombs Iranian bridges to sixth day of strikes, choke off Bandar Abbas supply
The shift to severing physical supply routes into Bandar Abbas marks an escalation beyond the missile and drone facility strikes that have dominated recent days, raising the stakes on Iran’s threat to destroy regional infrastructure in response. With the naval blockade running in parallel and vessel interdictions continuing, the campaign is increasingly aimed at isolating Iran’s Gulf naval base rather than just degrading offensive capability, which sustains the risk premium on regional shipping and energy flows. The White House’s comment that Iran wants a deal, framed around the pressure of “devastating blows," suggests Washington sees leverage building even as it keeps expanding the target list.
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The US widens its bombing campaign to Iranian bridges around Bandar Abbas in a bid to sever supply routes to the naval base, even as the White House claims Iran is signaling it wants a deal under the pressure of continued strikes.
Summary:
- The US struck multiple bridges in Iran on Thursday in an effort to cut off supply routes to Bandar Abbas, a port city and naval base near the Strait of Hormuz.
- Several bridge attacks were reported in and around Bandar Abbas overnight, with highways connecting the city to nearby provinces declared closed by Iran’s state broadcaster.
- Bandar Abbas hosts an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base and is central to Iran’s ability to project power in the Gulf, having already been hit by sea drone strikes on a submarine and ship facility earlier in the week.
- Iran has responded by striking US regional infrastructure and Gulf allies and continuing attacks on commercial ships, with Iranian military officials threatening to destroy infrastructure across the Middle East if the US keeps attacking Iranian infrastructure.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran continues to signal it wants to make a deal with the US because it is suffering heavy losses.
- US Central Command announced a sixth consecutive day of strikes aimed at degrading Iranian military capability, focused largely on missile, drone and shipping-threat facilities.
- Centcom released images of Marines boarding a commercial vessel, and said US forces have redirected three ships attempting to breach the renewed naval blockade and disabled another that failed to comply.
The United States struck multiple bridges in Iran on Thursday in an effort to sever supply routes into Bandar Abbas, a port city and naval base near the Strait of Hormuz that Iran uses to threaten shipping and project military power, according to a senior US official cited by the Wall Street Journal (gated).
Several bridge strikes were reported in and around Bandar Abbas overnight, and highways linking the city to neighboring provinces were declared closed, according to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB. Bandar Abbas houses an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base and has been a recurring target in the US campaign, having already sustained a sea drone strike on a submarine and ship facility earlier in the week.
Iran has responded by striking US infrastructure in the region as well as facilities belonging to Washington’s Gulf allies, while continuing its own attacks on commercial shipping. Iranian military officials have warned they will destroy infrastructure across the Middle East if the US continues targeting Iranian infrastructure, according to IRIB.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Iran continues to communicate with the United States and has expressed interest in reaching a deal, characterizing Tehran as under pressure from what she called devastating blows.
US Central Command confirmed it had begun a sixth consecutive day of strikes against Iran aimed at degrading the country’s military capabilities. The command, which oversees US forces across the Middle East, said the campaign has focused largely on missile and drone facilities along with other sites Iran uses to threaten commercial and military shipping in the region.
The bridge strikes come as Washington maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal waters intended to squeeze the Iranian economy. Centcom released images Thursday showing Marines boarding and searching a commercial vessel as part of that enforcement effort. Since the blockade resumed earlier in the week, US forces have redirected three vessels attempting to breach it and disabled another that failed to comply with orders, the command said.
The expanding target list, now extending to transport infrastructure rather than solely military and shipping-threat sites, signals a broader effort to isolate Bandar Abbas as both a naval chokepoint and a logistical hub, with the coming days likely to show whether Iran’s threatened infrastructure retaliation materializes or whether diplomatic signals gain traction instead.
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Separately, Iran says it targeted US helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft at the Sakhir base in Bahrain in a drone attack. Kuwait also currently under attack.
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The hapless President Trump is speaking at 2100 US Eastern time / 0100 GMT.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.