The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it was conducting a 12th night of strikes against Iran as both sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure.
The U.S. Central Command again said the attacks were designed to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters" as U.S. forces seek to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.
After the attack was completed, CENTCOM posted on X: "U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. The strikes further degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels."
President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the U.S. will 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 as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute over the crucial global energy waterway that remains largely closed because of Iranian attacks.
The unpopular war threatens further worldwide economic disruption and higher fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm 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.
The U.S. carried out a previous wave of strikes on Iran overnight into Wednesday, and air defenses opened fire over the capital, Tehran. Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel's doorstep, and alerts were issued in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
With negotiations largely stalled, both sides have sought leverage by targeting civilian infrastructure. 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. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried such attacks as "unacceptable" on Tuesday.
The closure of the strait, through which 20% of the world's traded oil and gas passed before the war, 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.
On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the arrival of the remains of four U.S. service members. A day earlier, his secretary of war, 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 without tolls 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.
"If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, and the security of the strait is in the absence of American forces," he wrote on social media. "We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewar conditions."
Jordan's military said it intercepted four Iranian missiles over Aqaba, while two others fell in "uninhabited areas." Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones.
Iran has avoided striking Israel since hostilities resumed last month, apparently hoping to keep it from reentering the war. But the attack on Aqaba, within sight of Israel's Eilat, raised concerns over a further widening of the conflict after an agreement to halt hostilities collapsed.
Another missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, but did not elaborate.
The U.S. military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran, with targets including aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran's Health Ministry said U.S. strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted its retaliatory attacks would continue.
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.
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 in which the two sides have warned they may attack civilian infrastructure.
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 appear bleak. The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
At a regional summit in the Philippines, 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 the focus is instead on protecting shipping.
In response to Iran's attacks, the U.S. reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
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, though it resumed enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels after Trump scrapped the 2015 nuclear deal in his first term.
The U.S. and others believe Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003 and may reconstitute it in the future.