DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. military announced Wednesday that they are conducting their 12th night of strikes against Iran as both sides are increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure. U.S. Central Command once again said the strikes are designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the U.S. pushes to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping. U.S. President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the U.S. will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait. “From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media. The continued American airstrikes are occurring even as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute over the crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed because of Iranian attacks. The unpopular war threatens further worldwide economic disruption and sending fuel prices up ahead of midterm U.S. elections this fall. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said his country would adopt an “eye for an eye” defense doctrine. “Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” he posted Wednesday on X. The U.S. carried out another wave of strikes on Iran overnight into Wednesday, and air defences opened fire over the capital, Tehran. Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel’s doorstep, and alerts were issued in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. With negotiations largely stalled, both sides have sought leverage by targeting civilian infrastructure. Iran has responded to U.S. attacks by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants that provide drinking water in parched neighboring Gulf countries. International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried such attacks as “unacceptable” on Tuesday. The costs of war are mounting The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East. A new threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another trade chokepoint at risk. Trump travelled to Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday for the arrival of the remains of four U.S. service members. A day earlier, his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, estimated in a fiery Senate hearing that the U.S. had spent US$37.5 billion on the war so far. Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to more than US$93 a barrel in trading. That’s up from less than $72 early this month, which is roughly where it was before the war. Gasoline prices are also climbing. Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the strait, which was open to all and toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by U.S. forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has led negotiations with the U.S., appeared to brush off Trump’s threats. “If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, and the security of the strait is in the absence of American forces,” he wrote on social media. “We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewar conditions.” Attacks shake Iran and Jordan Jordan’s military said it intercepted four Iranian missiles over Aqaba, while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones. Iran has avoided striking Israel since hostilities resumed last month, apparently hoping to keep it from reentering the war. But the attack on Aqaba, within sight of Israel’s Eilat, raised concerns over a further widening of the conflict after an agreement to halt hostilities collapsed. Another missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, without elaborating. The U.S. military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran, with targets including aircraft hangars and drone storage sites. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran’s Health Ministry says U.S. strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted its retaliatory attacks would continue. Diplomatic efforts show no signs of progress Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, without elaborating, according to IRNA. An Arab diplomat said Gulf states are increasingly pessimistic about finding an off-ramp for escalating hostilities and are particularly concerned about the latest round of threats in which the two sides have warned they may attack civilian infrastructure. The diplomat said countries in the region, in addition to Pakistan and Turkey, are continuing to push for de-escalation. But, he said the chances for any improvement currently appear bleak. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation. At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait. “If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said. Rubio said the U.S. remains open to negotiations with Iran, “but right now they don’t seem to be serious about that” so instead the focus is on protecting shipping. In response to Iran’s attacks, the U.S. re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. Trump signals U.S. may attack underground nuclear site Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.” He signalled that U.S. forces could soon target an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain. The site, known as Pickaxe Mountain, lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the U.S. during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025. But Pickaxe Mountain has remained untouched as Iran continues to dig at the site. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while resuming the enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels since Trump scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal during his first term. The U.S. and others believe Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003 and may reconstitute it in the future. By Jon Gambrell, Collin Binkley And Konstantin Toropin, The Associated Press Binkley reported from Washington. Contributing were Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Michelle L. Price and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.
