Desk
Tehran has vowed to “crush” regional infrastructure if the United States follows through on threats to strike Iran’s civilian sites, with the country’s military warning that “all infrastructure in the region will be crushed under steel blows.”
The warning came as the US military confirmed it had launched another wave of strikes on Iran, with Iranian media reporting explosions on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, and Chabahar. The US also said it had “disabled” an oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port in the Strait of Hormuz, firing Hellfire missiles to stop it. Iran, in turn, said it had carried out retaliatory attacks targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.
London-based military analyst Alex Alfirraz Scheers told Al Jazeera that the latest strike on Qeshm Island could mark a shift in the US campaign. He noted that the island is a key strategic outpost for Iran, housing a considerable share of its asymmetric military capabilities, and said Washington appears to be targeting Iran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping through the strait.
Scheers added that the US appeared to be applying both economic and military pressure on Tehran and suggested that President Trump’s growing frustration could change the shape of future strikes. He said this frustration might signal the early stages of preparation for a limited ground operation, potentially extending beyond Iran’s strategic outposts into Iranian territory itself.
Separately, Hezbollah has denied reports that Syrian forces seized weapons belonging to the group along the Syria-Iraq border. In a statement carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, Hezbollah’s media relations office described the reports as “fabricated and baseless narratives aimed at tarnishing the image of the resistance movement,” adding that they served US and Israeli objectives in the region.
Meanwhile, UAE-based Dana Gas, which operates northern Iraq’s Khor Mor gas field, has shut down its main production facilities, citing credible security threats and escalating regional tensions. According to Iraq’s electricity ministry, the shutdown has cut 2,500 megawatts from the Iraqi-Kurdistan region’s power generation capacity, with Khor Mor serving as the region’s principal electricity source.
The regional capital, Erbil, was also targeted on Wednesday, with at least five drones striking the city, including its main airport and the US consulate.
