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American military strikes overnight knocked out power at Iranshahr Airport in southeastern Iran and hit a railway junction station and two bridges in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Iranian state media reported Friday, as US Central Command separately announced it had redirected three commercial vessels attempting to breach an ongoing naval blockade against Iran in the Gulf of Oman.
The strikes mark a significant escalation in direct US military action against Iranian infrastructure, following warnings by President Donald Trump earlier this month that power plants and bridges would be next if Tehran refused to return to the negotiating table.
Airport knocked out, railway station hit in port city
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported that three explosions were heard around Iranshahr Airport in the country's southeast, with at least one projectile striking the facility. A power outage followed the strike, state television said, though no casualties were reported at the airport.
In Bandar Abbas, Iran's principal southern port city situated near the Strait of Hormuz, the railway junction station was struck in what Iranian media described as an American attack. The semi-official Mehr News Agency reported two Iranians were wounded in that strike.
Earlier strikes had already hit two bridges in Hormozgan Province, the region encompassing Bandar Abbas, with official reports citing two deaths and four injuries in those attacks, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA.
The overnight strikes followed an explicit threat by Trump on July 14, when he said American forces would move against Iranian power plants and bridges the following week.
"If they don't come to the negotiating table, we will knock out all of their power plants and bridges," Trump said in the statement.
Iranian Armed Forces General Staff spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi responded on state television, warning that any attacks on Iranian infrastructure would result in all infrastructure in the region being targeted in retaliation.
Iran has been responding to American strikes with attacks on US bases and targets operating in the region.
Bandar Abbas is a strategically critical location, serving as the headquarters of Iran's naval forces in the Persian Gulf and the site of major commercial shipping operations.
The Strait of Hormuz, which the city flanks, is one of the world's most vital oil transit chokepoints, through which roughly a fifth of global petroleum trade passes.
Separately, CENTCOM announced Thursday that American forces had redirected three commercial vessels it said were attempting to violate the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran. One vessel was boarded for compliance verification and another was disabled after allegedly failing to comply with orders.
CENTCOM said US Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a boarding of the motor tanker Wen Yao in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. The command added that the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters remain open to normal shipping, except for vessels it says are attempting to breach what it described as "America's steel wall blockade."
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