The U.S. military completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran late Thursday, hitting military command centers, drone facilities, and coastal surveillance sites — while Iranian state media reported at least 10 civilian deaths from American attacks across three cities and a border crossing. The escalation, now well into its fifth month since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, has killed thousands and displaced millions across the region.
Iranian state media said two people were killed at Shalamcheh, on Iran's border with Iraq, when a U.S. attack struck the crossing Thursday. Four more died and five were injured in a missile attack on the city of Ahvaz. Two U.S. missiles hit Bushehr, home to Iran's only civilian nuclear plant. Tehran activated air defenses as explosions were reported in multiple cities and islands, including Qeshm, Larak, Hengam, Bandar Abbas, and near Erbil airport in Iraq, which houses U.S. troops.
Iranian Retaliation Spreads Across the Gulf
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted U.S. assets in Jordan and Kuwait on Thursday, striking missile systems, weapons depots, fuel storage sites, and military posts in both countries. Jordan's army said it intercepted four Iranian missiles and six drones in the past day, with all but one missile — which fell in an uninhabited area — shot down. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they hit a U.S. electronic warfare unit at Al-Adiri base in Kuwait, causing unspecified casualties, in response to the overnight strike on Shalamcheh. The Iranian army announced strikes on ammunition and logistics depots at Camp Doha, fuel tanks at Ali al-Salem base, and an ammunition depot at Camp Arifjan, all in Kuwait.
Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would keep retaliating as long as U.S. attacks on its infrastructure and coastal areas continued, state TV reported. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on X that "seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent," responding to President Trump's threat to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for damages to cargo ships. "Ensuing chaos won't be pretty or peaceful," Araghchi added Friday. He also said Iran's defense doctrine was clear: "eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response." He added that those who contribute to such aggression "will also be considered as legitimate targets."
Red Sea Attacks Trigger New Threats
President Trump promised "major military punishment" for Iran and its Houthi allies after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the war into a second major shipping chokepoint. "If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves," Trump said on social media. He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations in Iran and was close to a decision. "They haven't received enough pain yet," the news outlet quoted him as saying.
The Houthis said they conducted missile and drone strikes on two Saudi tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, in the Red Sea overnight. A maritime security source said the Encelia sent a distress call after being struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan Wednesday. Saudi state news agency SPA said the strike caused a fire at the bow. UKMTO, the British naval security monitor, said the master of a tanker reported being hit by an unknown projectile about 70 nautical miles southwest of Al Shuqaiq in Saudi Arabia, causing a fire the crew was fighting. Saudi Arabia confirmed the Encelia had been struck but didn't comment on the other tanker.
Economic Shockwaves and Shipping Disruption
Fears that disruption could widen to block another sea route sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war. Brent crude rose more than 6%, piercing $100 a barrel for the first time since May. Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies Thursday after the reported attacks, sources said. The IRGC said it stopped three oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, warning that "the Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the U.S. and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate." The number of tankers crossing the Strait fell to just one Thursday, its lowest since May 7, shiptracking data showed. Several tankers have changed course to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb, instead heading north through the Suez Canal and potentially using a much longer and more expensive route around Africa.
Congressional Pushback and Legal Questions
In Washington, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives backed legislation Thursday directing Trump to halt U.S. military action against Iran. The Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure. Reuters also reported that the Senate blocked a resolution curbing Trump's Iran war powers. The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians. International law experts in the U.S. said in April that such attacks could amount to war crimes, after Trump's previous threats. Trump's threat that month to destroy Iran's entire civilization also drew wide condemnation.
Why This Matters:
Thirteen consecutive nights of U.S. strikes have killed at least 10 Iranian civilians in the past day alone, with no clear endgame in sight and no diplomatic off-ramp visible. The war that began in late February has now spread across four countries — Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait — and threatens two of the world's most critical oil chokepoints simultaneously. Brent crude above $100 a barrel signals real economic pain for consumers worldwide, while the collapse of Strait of Hormuz traffic to a single tanker shows how quickly a regional war can strangle global energy supplies. Trump's threat to seize Iranian assets to pay for future damages breaks established international norms and, as Iran's foreign minister warned, sets a precedent that invites retaliation and chaos. Congressional efforts to rein in the president's war powers have so far failed in the Senate, leaving the conflict's trajectory in the hands of an administration that has explicitly said Iran "hasn't received enough pain yet." The Geneva Conventions prohibit attacks on civilian-essential infrastructure, and international law experts have said such strikes could constitute war crimes — a legal threshold that carries weight even when enforcement remains distant. The human cost is already in the thousands, the displaced in the millions, and the war is only five months old.