US strikes inside Iran have expanded to include bridges, supply routes and coastal surveillance sites, marking a notable shift from attacks on missile and drone launch platforms towards the infrastructure supporting Iranian military operations.
While Washington says it is isolating the Strait of Hormuz on the ground, Tehran views the latest developments as possible preparations for military landings or limited ground operations, raising questions about the next stage of the confrontation.
Al Jazeera correspondent in Washington Wajd Waqfi said US Central Command described the latest raids as the longest since operations began. The strikes continued for approximately seven hours and 40 minutes, targeting coastal surveillance sites, military facilities, bridges and roads that Washington considers major supply routes serving the Bandar Abbas naval base.
She said the United States justified its attacks on infrastructure by claiming it sought to cut supply routes used by Iran to support drone launches against ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes coincided with a tightening naval blockade and continued interceptions of vessels attempting to reach Iranian ports.
Waqfi added that US forces had conducted boarding and inspection operations aboard vessels in the region. More than 10,000 troops, two destroyers, approximately 20 naval vessels and dozens of fighter aircraft are participating in the blockade as part of efforts to prevent Iranian ships from using the strait.
She noted that the White House had left the door open to renewed negotiations, but linked any talks to an end to Iranian attacks on maritime traffic. Washington says it wants arrangements ensuring that Tehran cannot control passage through the Strait of Hormuz or impose fees on vessels travelling through it.
Iran Anticipates Possible US Landings
From Tehran, Al Jazeera bureau chief Noureddine Dagheer said Iranian military circles view the latest strikes as more than simple attrition operations. They believe the attacks may represent a preliminary stage ahead of wider action, including possible military landings or attempts to seize strategic islands overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
Dagheer said the targeting of radar systems, surveillance sites and bridges around Bandar Abbas is consistent, according to the Iranian assessment, with efforts to prepare the operational theatre for future military action.
Tehran has therefore raised its level of readiness while intensively monitoring US movements across the region.
He said Iran is preparing for several scenarios, including a greater reliance on ballistic missiles and drones if US operations expand. Tehran has also suggested that the confrontation could spread to other maritime corridors, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, placing further pressure on international trade.
At the same time, Iran has kept open the possibility of a political settlement. According to Dagheer, Tehran says it is prepared to return to previous understandings if US military operations cease, while linking the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to an end to the attacks. This reflects the continuing overlap between the military and diplomatic tracks.
Expansion of the US Target List
Al Jazeera journalist Sohaib al-Asa said US strikes had expanded both geographically and in the types of sites being targeted.
The attacks included Shahid Kalantari Port in Chabahar, where a radar system used to monitor shipping and direct Iranian operations across the Gulf of Oman was struck.
During his presentation of an interactive map on Al Jazeera, al-Asa said Chabahar’s importance extends beyond its maritime location. It is also one of the key points supporting the US blockade stretching from Iran’s coastline to the Arabian Sea, helping isolate Iranian ports from external shipping routes.
He said the main focus remained Hormozgan Province, particularly Bandar Abbas, which serves as a command and control centre for Iranian naval forces.
The strikes have moved beyond military ports to include road and railway junctions leading into the city.
Al-Asa said the targeting of land transport networks represents a significant development because it seeks to disrupt supply routes serving naval bases.
This has occurred alongside continued attacks on drone and missile launch sites in Jask, Sirik and the islands overlooking the strait, further increasing military pressure on Iran.
Iran, meanwhile, has expanded the scope of its missile attacks, announcing that it targeted sites in several countries across the region and threatening further strikes against US military facilities.
The mutual escalation indicates that both sides have entered a broader phase of targeting each other’s military depth.
Calculations Behind a Possible Ground Invasion
Military and strategic expert Brigadier General Elias Hanna said the Strait of Hormuz remains Iran’s most important strategic card.
Tehran has therefore built its current strategy around maintaining control over the strait as both a negotiating tool and its principal source of pressure. The United States, in contrast, is seeking to deprive Iran of that leverage through a tight blockade and attacks on military infrastructure connected to the waterway.
Hanna said the shift in US targeting from launch platforms to bridges and supply lines is intended to weaken Iran’s ability to manoeuvre and resupply its forces. However, he stressed that this does not, by itself, prove that a large-scale ground operation inside Iran is imminent.
He said the US military has followed a doctrine since the Vietnam War that seeks to avoid prolonged ground wars in Asia, as controlling territory brings sustained attrition and requires an occupation force numbering in the tens or hundreds of thousands.
The cost of such a campaign would be fundamentally different from that of air or naval operations.
Hanna added that the current US force in the region is insufficient to launch a major ground invasion. Units capable of operating behind enemy lines or conducting amphibious landings are estimated to number only between 10,000 and 15,000 troops.
A campaign of this kind would require a much larger military build-up and logistical preparations lasting several months.
He concluded that striking bridges around Bandar Abbas reflects an effort to sever internal movement routes and exploit Iran’s difficult terrain. However, it does not necessarily mean that a decision to invade has been made.
Hanna recalled that the 1991 Gulf War was preceded by months of military mobilisation and the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops, conditions that have not appeared in the current confrontation.
US forces have conducted escalating strikes against Iran for a week while reimposing a blockade on Iranian ports. US President Donald Trump has also renewed threats of possible ground operations against Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz, including Khark Island.
