Bahrain and Kuwait face Iranian fire as U.S. airstrikes expand to target more bridges

Lead

The United States expanded its air strike campaign against Iran early Friday by increasingly hitting bridges, as Iran launched new missile attacks against US-allied nations in the Middle East and warned that its attacks would escalate, according to reports from ABC Australia and The Hindu. The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks as the two countries battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Coverage comparison

Reporting from ABC Australia and The Hindu — World provides a chronological picture of the escalating conflict. ABC Australia focused on the expansion of U.S. strikes to include bridges, a tactic President Donald Trump had threatened as a way to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The Hindu's reports detail the impact on Gulf states, including Bahrain and Kuwait facing incoming Iranian fire, and the U.S. military's stated goal of degrading Iran's ability to threaten shipping.

Across the coverage, the causal attribution is consistent: the conflict is rooted in the struggle over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to global oil and gas flows. The tone of the reports is largely neutral, though one article from The Hindu adopts a more critical tone regarding civilian casualties.

Key claims

• The United States expanded its air strike campaign against Iran early Friday by increasingly hitting bridges, part of President Trump's threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by ABC Australia.
• Bahrain and Kuwait faced incoming Iranian fire early on Friday (July 17, 2026) as U.S. airstrikes expanded to target more bridges in the Islamic Republic, as reported by The Hindu.
• The U.S. military said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as reported by The Hindu. The strikes ended shortly before 5 a.m. local time Friday (July 24, 2026).
• Iranian State media reported that four people had been killed and nine injured in the bombardment, as reported by The Hindu. The report detailed that four were killed and five wounded in a missile attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz, two injured in Lorestan province, and two more injured in Bandar Abbas.
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday (July 20, 2026) that two oil tankers had exploded and been immobilised after attempting to transit what it described as an unsafe southern route through the Strait of Hormuz, alleging they had been encouraged by the U.S. military to use the passage, as reported by The Hindu.
• Iran fired missiles towards Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighbouring Israel, as reported by The Hindu. This came on the ninth consecutive day of U.S. strikes on Iran.
• The previous day, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped $100 a barrel, as reported by The Hindu.
• Tehran on Thursday (July 16, 2026) accused the United States of carrying out a 'barbaric attack' after a cancer hospital in Iran's southwest was forced to evacuate due to nearby strikes. The hospital was treating 211 patients undergoing chemotherapy, as reported by The Hindu.
• Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz after the war erupted on February 28, using the waterway for leverage against its foes for months, as reported by The Hindu.
• The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, as reported by both ABC Australia and The Hindu.
• The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had completed their latest barrage, which began overnight Sunday (July 12), on dozens of Iranian targets, as reported by The Hindu.

Context

The conflict traces back to February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, and Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. That move sent oil prices soaring and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations. The strait was briefly reopened after a US-Iran deal last month, before Tehran vowed last week it would be closed again “until the US ends its aggression.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday (July 19, 2026) that Iran is using the strait as leverage in the conflict, adding that other countries need to step up pressure to protect global shipping. "It's clear that Iran, at least some people in Iran, want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world," he said.

Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others. Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, threatened that Iran could launch widespread attacks on "all the infrastructure in the region" if the US acts on President Trump's repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants.

Perspectives

• United States (CENTCOM, State Department): The U.S. military frames its strikes as necessary to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters" and to protect international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Iran of using the strait as leverage against the world.
• Iran (Foreign Ministry, Revolutionary Guards): Iran accuses the United States of "barbaric attacks," citing civilian casualties and the evacuation of a cancer hospital. Iranian military officials threaten widespread attacks on regional infrastructure if the U.S. targets bridges and power plants. Iran has closed the strait "until the US ends its aggression."
• Iraq (Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi): Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who has close ties to both the U.S. and Iran, visited Tehran to call for peace and dialogue. His office said he "promised not to allow Iraqi territory to be used for attacks on Iran."