Iran launched a new wave of attacks against U.S. allies in the Gulf region on Saturday, coming after a seventh straight night of American military strikes on Iranian military targets, including logistics infrastructure. The renewed fighting comes one week after a fragile ceasefire between the two countries fell apart.
Both nations also took aim at maritime traffic in the region. The United States said it was enforcing a naval blockade of Iran, while Iran claimed it was stopping vessels that had violated its navigation rules in the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil flows.
Global oil prices jumped more than 4% on Friday, reaching their highest point in over a month. The spike is adding political pressure on President Donald Trump as his Republican Party works to maintain control of Congress in November elections.
Washington and Tehran have been pushing the boundaries of military escalation since their ceasefire broke down last week, raising fears of a full return to open warfare.
The U.S. military’s Central Command announced it had completed its latest round of strikes, hitting surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage facilities, and maritime capabilities. “U.S. forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets,” Central Command said in a statement. “More than 50,000 American service members are operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
Iranian media reported Saturday that several missiles struck power facilities and desalination pumps in the southern Iranian city of Jask, according to a local official. That official said drinking water had been cut off in surrounding villages as a result of the attack.
The U.S. military said its forces redirected four commercial ships, disabled one vessel, and boarded another as part of its naval blockade enforcement. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards countered that four ships violating its shipping rules were stopped from passing through the strait using a combined missile and drone operation.
Iranian media, citing the Revolutionary Guards, also reported that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire after passing through a mined area south of the strait. The U.S. military rejected that report as false.
Separately, armed men seized another vessel off the coast of Yemen, raising new concerns about security at the mouth of the Red Sea — another major chokepoint for global oil shipments.
Iran’s state television quoted the Revolutionary Guards as warning that until U.S. “aggression” ends, it will not be possible to export chemical fertilizers or even a “single drop of oil and gas” from the region. Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, also warned on Friday against any U.S. escalation or attempts to seize Iranian territory.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the escalating conflict, particularly regarding what his spokesperson described as “attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region.”
Iranian media reported early Saturday that strikes hit coastal Hormozgan Province on the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz. State television said three people were killed and eight wounded, and that two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged. Explosions or strikes were also reported in the cities of Sirik, Ahvaz, Yazd, Jask, and Khorramabad during Friday night and early Saturday.
On Friday, Iranian state media reported that at least five bridges in southern Iran were struck in U.S. attacks. Seven people were reported killed in strikes on bridges in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, where a train station was also hit. An airport was reported struck further east in Iranshahr, a province that borders Pakistan.
President Trump has threatened broad air strikes on Iranian infrastructure and has not ruled out a ground assault on Iran’s coast or islands. U.S. officials have said the attacks on southern Iran are partly designed to keep military options open for Trump.
Such actions risk prompting Iran to strike the vital infrastructure of vulnerable Gulf nations, or encouraging its allies in Yemen to further disrupt global energy supplies by targeting Red Sea shipping.
Iran announced it had launched attacks on Gulf countries hosting U.S. airbases, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan, as well as targeting a U.S. vessel in the northern Indian Ocean. Saudi Arabia’s civil defense issued early warnings — the first in several months — in at least two locations, though no damage had yet been reported. Earlier in the conflict, Iran had struck some of the kingdom’s energy facilities.
Kuwaiti authorities confirmed that one of the country’s power generation and water desalination stations was hit in an Iranian attack, causing damage, a fire, and the disruption of a large number of electricity generation units. The Kuwaiti army later confirmed it was actively responding to Iranian drone attacks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a U.S. drone depot in Bahrain and destroyed Bahrain’s main artificial intelligence center using ballistic missiles and drones. Iran’s state news agency also reported that the Iranian navy fired a shore-to-sea cruise missile at what it described as a hostile U.S. vessel in the northern Indian Ocean, with Iran’s army claiming the launch caused “fear and panic” and forced the vessel to move out of range.
