Iran has launched new barrages of missiles toward Gulf states aligned with the US, including Qatar, which until recently served as a key mediator in efforts to de-escalate regional tensions. In addition, Iranian missiles scored direct hits on a water desalination and power plant in Kuwait. This constitutes an especially critical blow to the small desert nation, which relies entirely on these facilities for its regular water supply.
Meanwhile, satellite images from Thursday, July 16, reveal the extent of the damage from previous attacks in the region, with three buildings destroyed inside the Zayed military compound in Abu Dhabi.
Video: Satellite imagery confirms Iranian strikes hit Abu Dhabi military base. Credit: X
In Erbil, satellite photos documented a launcher belonging to the US Patriot air defense system after it was destroyed, with thick smoke rising around it at the international airport, following a precise Iranian drone attack.
Early Friday morning, US fighter jets struck strategic bridges in Hormozgan Province in southern Iran. State television in Tehran reported that at least seven people died in the strikes, which focused on the coastal town of Bandar Khamir, situated in a strategic location on the Strait of Hormuz.
According to assessments, the attack on the road and railway bridges aimed to almost completely cut off the port of Bandar Abbas – the most central and important import and export harbor in Iran – from the roads leading to the center of the Islamic Republic and the capital, Tehran.
In addition, the Iranian Ministry of Energy issued an urgent call on Friday morning to residents of the southern provinces to immediately reduce their electricity consumption. This represents the first official admission by the Ayatollah regime that the American strikes directly damaged the country's energy infrastructure. Iranian officials claimed that the latest American strikes claimed the lives of dozens of people and injured hundreds more.
Amid the sharp escalation and global fears of an all-out war, US President Donald Trump addressed US citizens on Thursday night in a special speech from the White House. "We are winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very soon, very, very soon," Trump declared in his speech.
