US completes sixth consecutive night of strikes on Iran

WASHINGTON: The U.S. military said it completed its latest wave of strikes on ‌Iran that were carried out at President Donald Trump's direction and marked a sixth consecutive night of American strikes.

U.S. airstrikes Friday appeared to have collapsed a tower at Iran's Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, a key trade route for Afghanistan.

Collapse of port tower

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared the image of the surveillance tower appearing to collapse. That image had circulated social media via activists prior to Hegseth sharing it.

Chabahar port has been a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a third round of strikes on the facility without immediately acknowledging the tower's collapse.

Iran says the tower is for overseeing commercial traffic into the port.

Here are the latest details:

"U.S. forces, including fighter jets, aerial drones, and warships, launched precision munitions that hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defence sites, military ⁠logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities," the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

On Thursday evening, U.S. projectiles struck Qeshm Island and near Bandar Abbas - home to Iran's largest port and key ‌navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities - both on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian news outlets also reported U.S. strikes late on Thursday on three bridges and ‌the train station in coastal Bandar Khamir and a U.S. ‌missile attack on Iranshahr Airport in southeastern Iran. Reuters could not ‌immediately verify the reports.

Tehran ‌launched missiles and drones targeted at U.S. military bases in neighbouring states including a recently expanded air base in Jordan ‌that Iran said was used in a U.S. attack on ⁠an Iranian children's cancer hospital on Wednesday night.

Trump this week reiterated threats to hit Iranian energy targets while also threatening to target bridges next week.