Rania Abushamala
16 July 2026•Update: 17 July 2026
US forces struck five bridges and multiple cities across southern and southeastern Iran late Thursday in a sixth consecutive night of attacks.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said one person was killed and eight others injured in a strike on a neighborhood in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
A separate US attack hit two bridges near Bandar Khamir in Hormozgan Province, killing seven people and injuring nine, according to the broadcaster.
IRIB also reported four explosions along the southern coast of Qeshm Island, while the semi-official Tasnim News Agency said a blast was heard in Sirik, also in Hormozgan Province.
Tasnim said the Bandar Abbas-Shiraz bridge near Bandar Khamir was among those struck, causing power outages in the area.
Three explosions were heard west of Bandar Abbas and two others in the southern city of Bushehr, according to Iranian media.
The semi-official Mehr News Agency published footage showing the aftermath of a strike in Bandar Abbas, saying preliminary information indicated that a telecommunications tower may have been targeted, though this had not been confirmed.
Mehr also reported an explosion near Iranshahr Airport in southeastern Iran.
The agency cited the deputy governor of Khuzestan Province for security and law enforcement affairs as saying that areas around the southwestern city of Ahvaz had also come under US attack.
Later, Fars News Agency reported that a total of five bridges were hit during US attacks, including the Gariveh and Kahurestan bridges, which are key to Iran’s internal logistics and military mobility.
The Iranian army’s public relations office meanwhile said that the army targeted a deployment of forces and logistical support centers of the US army in Kuwait.
In a separate statement early Friday, the army relations office said that Iranian forces targeted a US special operations command center in al-Tanf, Syria in a surprise attack, claiming that a radar system and several special operations helicopters were destroyed and "a large number of American forces were killed."
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday that it completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran, marking the sixth consecutive night of US military operations targeting Iranian military assets.
Regional tensions have escalated since February, when the US and Israel launched a joint offensive against Iran, while Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes targeting Gulf nations hosting US assets.
Iran and the US signed a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding last month aimed at ending their conflict and reaching a lasting peace agreement. Tensions, however, escalated in recent days over the Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides exchanging attacks.
