Tehran/Cairo/Washington/Moscow, July 18 (EFE).- At least seven civilians were killed in fresh US strikes on southern Iran overnight as the week-long renewed military confrontation between Washington and Tehran intensified on Saturday, expanding beyond the battlefield into civilian infrastructure, Gulf energy facilities, regional airspace and financial markets.
While US attacks continued to target southern Iran for a seventh consecutive night, Tehran widened its retaliatory campaign against American-linked military and strategic assets across the Gulf, marking the latest in a conflict that is increasingly disrupting regional stability and raising the economic costs on both sides.
Civilian casualties, infrastructure damage mount
At least seven civilians were killed and several others injured in overnight US strikes on Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, according to local authorities, making it the seventh consecutive night of reported American attacks.
Ahmad Moradi, Hormozgan’s representative in parliament, said the strikes hit several locations, including the Shahid Mirzaei tunnel on the Bandar Abbas-Hajiabad highway and two strategic bridges, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Authorities urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel to allow rescue operations.
Explosions were also reported in Yazd, Lar, Ahvaz, Bushehr, Qeshm Island and Sirik along the Persian Gulf coast.
The latest fatalities bring the human cost of the renewed US campaign higher.
Iran’s Health Ministry said on Friday that at least 38 people had been killed and more than 400 injured during the first six days of the strikes.
The attacks also disrupted essential services. Around 10,000 residents in 20 villages in Hormozgan lost access to drinking water after a US strike destroyed key facilities at the Bunji desalination plant in Jask county.
Abdolhamid Hamzehpur, managing director of Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, said the attack destroyed a seawater pumping station and an electrical transformer serving the plant, which produced about 3,150 cubic metres of potable water a day. Emergency crews were working to restore supplies.
Iran has condemned the attacks on civilian infrastructure as war crimes.
Iran expands retaliation across the Gulf
Iran continued its response with another wave of missile and drone attacks targeting US military assets and strategic infrastructure across the Gulf.
In Kuwait, authorities said an oil facility sustained serious material damage after coming under attack.
The Kuwait National Petroleum Company reported several injuries but did not disclose the extent of the damage.
A separate strike ignited a fire at a power generation and desalination plant for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait Airways rescheduled most flights after Kuwait International Airport temporarily suspended operations and the country’s airspace was briefly closed.
Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said air defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted 10 Iranian missiles without casualties, while Bahrain activated air raid sirens as Iranian attacks targeted the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for attacks on US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, saying it struck Arifjan and Ali Al Salem bases, logistics facilities supporting the US Navy at Al Ahmadi port and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.
Iranian state media also claimed several American soldiers were killed, although those claims could not be independently verified.
The retaliatory attacks followed what US Central Command described as the completion of its seventh consecutive night of military operations against Iran.
Economic pressure intensifies
The conflict is also taking an increasingly visible economic toll inside Iran.
The Iranian rial fell to a record low of around 1.928 million to the US dollar on Saturday, compared with about 1.78 million a week earlier before the latest round of US strikes.
The currency’s decline has accelerated alongside renewed military operations and Washington’s reimposition of a naval blockade on Iranian ports and vessels following Tehran’s renewed threats to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, already battling annual inflation of 88.6 percent and food inflation of nearly 134 percent, says the conflict has inflicted about $270 billion in damage to civilian infrastructure, industries and petrochemical facilities.
Political uncertainty, competing narratives
Amid growing security concerns, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will remain out of public view until conditions stabilize, an official source told Russia’s TASS news agency, citing security reasons following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, earlier in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Washington rejected Iranian claims that two oil tankers exploded after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command described the allegation by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as false and part of a broader disinformation campaign. EFE
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