The U.S. military has broadened its attacks across Iran, targeting a port facility, energy infrastructure, and bridges in an effort to pressure the Iranian regime. These strikes come as President Trump seeks to diminish Iran’s military capabilities and influence.

Iran has responded by targeting U.S. bases in the region and attacking power and desalination plants, escalating tensions that bring both countries closer to an all-out war. The conflict intensifies amid the collapse of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and disputes over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy shipping route where traffic has sharply declined over the past two weeks.

Naval Forces Central Command emphasized the need to alter the strategic "calculus" by striking bridges, railway infrastructure, and command and control centers—key assets Tehran might use to supply weaponry such as missiles, drones, and fast boats to assert military control over the strait. The U.S. forces conducted airstrikes for the seventh consecutive night on Friday, July 18, 2026, focusing on bridges around Bandar Abbas, a Persian Gulf port city that serves as the headquarters of the Iranian Navy and handles over 85 percent of Iran’s container traffic.

Central Command (Centcom) announced on the evening of July 18 that U.S. forces concluded strikes around 9:30 p.m. Earlier, on July 17, the U.S. military destroyed the Chahbahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower, which U.S. officials identified as part of a maritime surveillance network used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to monitor and target commercial vessels in the strait.

The Kuwaiti military reported intercepting 32 drones early on July 17, indicating the regional scope of the conflict.

Harrison Mann, a former executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Middle East/Africa Regional Center, criticized the ongoing strategy, stating that continuing to rely on strikes to shake Iran’s control of the strait is akin to "trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Meanwhile, Miller, speaking to The Hill, described the expansion of strikes to disrupt the regime’s command and control capabilities across the country as a "positive development."

Sources