US Strikes Iran Bridges,Collapses Tower07/17 06:21

   The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday 
by hitting more bridges, energy sites and collapsing a tower at a key Iranian 
port, part of U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to start striking 
infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The United States expanded its airstrike 
campaign against Iran early Friday by hitting more bridges, energy sites and 
collapsing a tower at a key Iranian port, part of U.S. President Donald Trump's 
threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its 
chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

   Iran launched new missile attacks against U.S.-allied nations in the Middle 
East, including Qatar, a key mediator in the war. It also damaged a power and 
water desalination plant in Kuwait -- something crucial in the small, desert 
nation.

   The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has 
endured days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran as they battle for 
control of the strait. Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed dozens of 
people and wounded hundreds of others, with new casualties reported in Friday's 
strikes.

   When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran 
effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price 
of oil soaring and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.

   Speaking in a primetime address to the American public, Trump insisted the 
war was going well.

   "We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that 
labor very, very shortly," Trump said.

   Bridges and 'electrical infrastructure' hit in Iran

   The U.S. airstrikes hit bridges overnight into Friday in Iran's southern 
Hormozgan province, killing at least seven people, Iranian state television 
reported. The attacks hit Bandar Khamir, a city on Iran's coast on the Strait 
of Hormuz.

   The highway and railway bridge strikes appeared aimed at cutting off Bandar 
Abbas, Iran's main port, from roads leading into the Islamic Republic's central 
region onward to Tehran, the capital.

   While other routes still are open, the U.S. strikes could expand further, 
potentially disrupting both the movement of military materiel and goods needed 
for Iran's 90 million people.

   Iran also acknowledged "attacks on power infrastructure" during the U.S. 
airstrike campaign for the first time Friday when its Energy Ministry issued a 
call for people to use less power in southern provinces.

   It said those areas "are currently experiencing extreme heat and attacks on 
power infrastructure." The ministry did not elaborate on whether it was power 
plants, transmission lines or other equipment that had been attacked.

   Such strikes on power infrastructure had been suspected for days. Tehran 
city councilman Mehdi Chamran told journalists asking about electrical problems 
on Tuesday, "Just look at how many power facilities they hit ... and you 
wouldn't be asking that question."

   Tower at key port collapses in US strike

   The U.S. military's Central Command said it hit dozens of targets in its 
latest airstrikes, which concluded at dawn Friday, the sixth night in a row of 
American attacks.

   The strikes also collapsed a tower at Iran's Chabahar port on the Gulf of 
Oman, a key trade route for landlocked, neighboring Afghanistan, the state-run 
IRNA news agency reported.

   Chabahar port, which Iran had been running with support from India, has been 
a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a 
third round of strikes on the facility without immediately acknowledging the 
tower's collapse.

   Iran described the tower as overseeing commercial traffic into the port. 
However, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also operates at ports across 
the country.

   As of 6 a.m. Friday, the U.S. strikes had killed at least 38 people and 
wounded more than 400 in Iran, Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour 
said.

   Iran retaliates by targeting Qatar, a mediator in the war

   On Friday, Qatar twice warned the public to take shelter as a barrage of 
Iranian missiles targeted the nation. People heard explosions overhead as air 
defenses fired to intercept the missiles. Qatar's Interior Ministry said 
falling debris wounded a child.

   Qatar, along with Pakistan, is a key mediator in trying to reach an end to 
the Iran war. But talks have broken down over Iran's chokehold on the Strait of 
Hormuz.

   Iran also targeted Bahrain and Kuwait early Friday. In Kuwait, authorities 
said Iran attacked a power and water desalination plant, causing widespread 
damage to the station. About 90% of drinking water comes from desalination -- 
and any disruption can threaten life.

   Kuwait said it extinguished the blaze and was working to assess the damage 
and get the station working again.

   Jordan's military said it intercepted three incoming missiles Friday morning 
launched by Iran.

   Explosions also could be heard Friday morning in Irbil and Sulaymaniyah in 
northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region as air defenses targeted incoming 
fire. The attack apparently targeted the Iranian Kurdish dissident group 
Komala, killing at least nine people and wounding others, said an official who 
spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

   Iran did not immediately claim the attack but has targeted Komala in the 
past.

   Also on Friday, a tanker came under attack traveling through the Strait of 
Hormuz taking the route closest to Oman, the British military said.

   The report from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the 
ship sustained minor damage without any of its crew being injured.

   Iran has been attacking tankers traveling on the route near Oman but did not 
immediately acknowledge any attack.

   Strikes come as Iran and US vie for Strait of Hormuz

   Trump has returned in recent days to his threats to target Iranian power 
stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold on the strait, 
through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in 
peacetime. The U.S. also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt 
its shipments of crude oil.

   Week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait dropped by almost a quarter 
at the beginning of the month, according to maritime data firm Lloyd's List 
Intelligence. And that was before the recent surge in violence.

   Given the risks, some oil shippers are transiting the strait with their 
location devices turned off, but many are just staying put, Lloyd's said 
Thursday. A growing amount of the region's energy is being shipped through 
pipelines, but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping through the 
strait.