US military carries out strikes on Iran as both sides threaten civilian
infrastructure
[July 23, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, COLLIN BINKLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military announced Wednesday
that it was conducting a 12th night of strikes against Iran as both
sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure.
U.S. Central Command said the attacks were designed to “further degrade
Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels
transiting regional waters,” as the Americans push to regain control
over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international
shipping.
President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the U.S. would
destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the
strait.
“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots
at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket,
Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and
destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.
The continued American airstrikes are occurring even as diplomatic
efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides
have dug in on the dispute over the crucial waterway for global energy
that remains largely closed. The unpopular war threatens further
worldwide economic disruption and is sending fuel prices up ahead of
midterm U.S. elections this fall.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said his country would
adopt an “eye for an eye” defense doctrine.
“Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel
a powerful and decisive response,” he posted Wednesday on X.
Iranian state media reported that U.S. missiles struck locations late
Wednesday near the cities of Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western
Iran. Two people were killed in a U.S. missile strike in the town of
Shalamcheh on the Iraqi boarder, Iranian state media said early
Thursday.
Meanwhile, military officials in Kuwait said on social media that their
air defenses were “confronting attacks by hostile drones, following the
sinful Iranian aggression.”
Iran has responded to U.S. attacks by targeting energy infrastructure
and desalination plants that provide drinking water in parched
neighboring Gulf countries.
International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the
infrastructure is being used for military purposes.
The costs of war are mounting
The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded
oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with
effects far beyond the Middle East. A new threat by Iran-backed Houthi
rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another
trade chokepoint at risk.
Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday for the arrival of
the remains of four U.S. service members. A day earlier Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated in a fiery Senate hearing that the U.S.
had spent $37.5 billion on the war so far.
Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to more than $93 a barrel in trading.
That's up from less than $72 early this month, which is roughly where it
was before the war. Gasoline prices are also climbing.
Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees
in the strait, which was open to all and toll-free before the war. It
has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by
U.S. forces and intended to be outside Tehran's control.
Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has led
negotiations with the U.S., appeared to brush off Trump's threats.
“We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not
return to prewar conditions," he wrote on social media..
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Mourners carry the coffins containing additional remains of victims
identified through DNA testing during funeral ceremonies in Minab,
Iran, Tuesday, July 22, 2026, nearly five months after they were
killed in the Feb. 28 strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School.(Razieh
Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Diplomatic efforts show no signs of progress
Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni
visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive
diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to
end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the
Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t
called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, without
elaborating, according to IRNA.
An Arab diplomat said Gulf states are increasingly pessimistic about
finding an off-ramp for escalating hostilities and are particularly
concerned about the latest round of threats.
The diplomat said countries in the region, in addition to Pakistan and
Turkey, are continuing to push for de-escalation. But, he said the
chances for any improvement currently appear bleak. The diplomat spoke
on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can
decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge
a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a
very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the
world, including in this region,” he said.
Rubio said the U.S. remains open to negotiations with Iran, “but right
now they don’t seem to be serious about that” so instead the focus is on
protecting shipping.
In response to Iran’s attacks, the U.S. re-imposed a blockade on Iranian
ports.
Trump signals US may attack underground nuclear site
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump gave a dim view on
possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.”
He signaled that U.S. forces could soon target an under-construction
Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.
The site, known as Pickaxe Mountain, lies on the south side of Iran’s
Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the U.S. during the
12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025. But Pickaxe Mountain has
remained untouched as Iran continues to dig at the site.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while resuming
the enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels since Trump
scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.
___
Binkley and Toropin reported from Washington. Contributing were
Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Michelle L. Price and
Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.
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